The women's rowing team displayed dominating performances in its first two competitions, winning 9 of 10 races against Princeton, the Ohio State University and Harvard. The team's outstanding performance was recognized Wednesday when the Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association rated the Bears No. 1 in the country with 475 points, four points ahead of the No. 2 University of Southern California.
Competing at Princeton with Ohio State on March 24, the Bears lost only the varsity four race to Princeton while sweeping Ohio State. Last Saturday in Cambridge, Mass., Brown won all five races against Radcliffe, as Harvard's women's crew is still called - the only women's team at Harvard to retain the banner of its female school.
"It's exciting, for sure," said captain Rachel Dearborn '07 of the team's early season success and lofty ranking. "But it's always hard to tell in the beginning of the season where we stand."
The varsity eight boats led the way for the Bears in both meets. In the first varsity eight race at Princeton, Brown's first eight finished in 6:52.8, followed by Ohio State at 6:57.4. The second eight placed first in its race as well, with a time of 7:09.7, 2.8 seconds ahead Ohio State.
In its race against Radcliffe, both varsity eights had to rally to overcome fast starts by the Black and White. The first eight won in 6:40.4 and was followed by Radcliffe 3.8 seconds later. The second eight came in at 6:53.6, just ahead of Radcliffe's time of 6:56.7.
The Bears' varsity four was the only boat to finish out of first place over spring break, coming in 10 seconds after Princeton but still 3.9 seconds before Ohio State.
The boats all fared better against Radcliffe. Both Brown "A" and "B" defeated Radcliffe "A" in the third varsity race, while Brown "C" defeated Radcliffe "B" and "C."
The novices put up strong showings at Princeton and against Radcliffe, an encouraging sign for the future of the program. The two Brown teams placed first and second in the novice fours at Princeton, coming in at 7:35.2 and at 7:41.5, comfortably ahead of third-place finisher Princeton, which crossed the line in 7:56.6. The Bears torched Radcliffe in the novice eight race, finishing at 7:03.5, with Radcliffe 27.6 seconds behind.
Dearborn said the high-level performances across the board reflect the team's cohesiveness.
"I think (winning 9 out of 10 races) shows that we have a lot of unity and that we're all working really hard together," Dearborn said. "We're excited for the whole team competing because we have a really great foundation out there."
The Bears will look to continue their success when they face Rutgers University Saturday in New Brunswick, N.J. Brown only has four more competitions before the conference championships take place on May 13.
"We're racing against very competitive teams," Dearborn said. "We have so few races that every one of them is important."
