Coming off impressive seasons, the men's and women's crew teams competed this past weekend at the 40th annual Head of the Charles Regatta. The women, who won the NCAA championship this summer, finished eighth in the varsity eights, fifth in the freshman eights and 10th in the championship fours. On the men's side, the varsity eight finished 14th, the freshman eight finished fifth and the two fours finished in 10th and 12th.
The winning boat in the women's varsity eight finished with a time of 12:06.663, and Brown finished in 12:33.052, behind several Ivy opponents.
"This year was a bit of a letdown in comparison to last year," said Caitlin Flynn '06. "We have some work ahead of us. The boats that beat us are the teams we will be facing in the spring."
Although the team did lose to Ivy competitors as well as highly respected international boats, the Bears are not putting too much emphasis on the results of the race.
"Head racing is not our main concern," Flynn said of the race. "How we do in the spring is more important."
With several key losses from last year's championship team, the women need to fill spaces and will be "training with ferocity for the spring," according to Flynn.
After placing seventh in the 2003 Head of the Charles Regatta, the men's team dropped several places in this year's race. The Cambridge University Boat Club finished first with a time of 10:43.026, while the U.S. men's national team finished sixth with a time of 11:12.709 and Brown finished with a time of 11:20.455.
Much like the women's varsity eight, the men lost many seniors from last year's squad.
"There are a lot of young guys on the boat," said co-captain Jim Garvey '05. "We have three sophomores, three juniors and two seniors."
Garvey echoed the mitigated concern about the women's team's results.
"We haven't been focusing on the Charles but more on the championship races in the spring," Garvey said. "The race is more of a festival atmosphere."
Both teams will compete Nov. 20 in the Foot of the Charles, the final fall regatta.
