The men's rowing team accomplished something at the Genesee Regatta, held Sunday in Rochester, N.Y., that does not happen often. Brown's victory in the varsity eight race marked the team's third win in its last four starts against Harvard.
Brown's varsity eight boat finished first in both the morning and afternoon races to record a total time of 26:56.98, ahead of second-place Syracuse University (27:25.09) and Harvard (27:32.49). The junior varsity placed fifth with a time of 27:41.31 and was narrowly defeated by the University of Western Ontario.
The Bears, voted the nation's most improved crew team after the Intercollegiate Rowing Association Championships in June, were keen to leave an early impression on their main rival, Harvard, in the fall 2006 season. Brown built a 13.19-second gap over the Crimson after the three-mile morning race. Though that lead lessened the importance of the afternoon's 1,500-meter race, the Bears were determined to establish a psychological edge over the Crimson for later races. Brown recorded a 22.32-second victory over the Crimson in the shorter afternoon race.
Though the results gave Brown a perfect opening to the competitive season, co-captain Ben Harrison '07 emphasized that this performance was merely a first step in putting together a year he hopes will end with a national title in June.
"It is a solid first step, it was exciting to see the varsity win, but that is only part of the goal of our team," Harrison said. "Our goal is to put an undefeated boat in every event this year."
One staple of the five-year tenure of Head Coach Paul Cooke '89 has been his ability to build great depth in the program. There was no clearer signal to date that he has achieved this than the junior varsity's victory over Harvard at the Genesee.
In the afternoon race, Brown's "B" boat edged out Harvard by a margin of over 1.5 seconds, which would translate to a four-second margin of victory if the race had run a full course. In addition, Brown's "A" open four boat also managed to record a victory in the open four event. Brown's "B" open four finished third in the same race.
The importance of the team's success Sunday was not lost on co-captain Dave Coughlin '07.
"I was most excited about the overall performance of the team," he said. "It will help us in training and working to accomplish our overall goals."
Harrison also expressed how the progression of the team's training at this point in the season is probably more important than its actual results.
"We have a lot of obstacles ahead of us, one of which will be the challenging training goals we have set for ourselves" he said. "I am really proud of the effort our team has started with, and that's important for us because our strength comes from the power of group commitment and character of the team."
The team's next race is the premier regatta of the fall season, the Head of the Charles on Oct. 21 and Oct. 22 in Boston. The regatta is expected to attract around 250,000 spectators this year and will give the Bears an opportunity to square off against Harvard on the Crimson's home waters.
