For graduating seniors, few things are important enough to merit missing their own Commencement. But on May 27, the women's crew and its seniors skipped Brown's ceremonies to win the NCAA Women's Rowing Championships in Oak Ridge, Tenn.
The championship triumph was Brown's fifth in the past nine years. The Bears utilized depth superior to other top-ranking universities such as runner-up the University of Virginia and Ohio State University. The Bears capped their season with a victory in the Henley Women's Regatta in England on June 24.
Even after overseeing five national championship seasons since 1999, Head Coach John Murphy isn't taking the crew's success for granted.
"I definitely don't think we're a dynasty," Murphy said after the Bears lost in the semifinals of the Henley Royal Regatta. "I don't think there are dynasties in any sports. I think you have to work really hard and hope for the best, and nothing's guaranteed."
Murphy's philosophy is to take things one year at a time, and 2007 was one of the best in the history of the program.
The season looked promising from the start as the Bears lost only one race in their first five meets. But on April 28, Brown's varsity eight lost to Yale by two seconds in the final tune-up of the season. Yale finished fourth at the national championship.
"I knew as the real spring finally appeared that everyone was going to get a little faster, including Yale, who had their share of bad weather," Murphy said. "(But) I knew that we had some time to prepare to take our shot, and we did."
The Bears fell to the Bulldogs again in the Eastern Sprints on May 13, settling for second despite victories by the novice eight and second varsity eight crews. Still, Murphy viewed it as an encouraging performance.
Murphy's optimism was borne out at Melton Hill Lake in Oak Ridge, Tenn. The varsity four, composed of freshmen Aubrey Fitzpatrick '10, Nicole McDonald '10, Molly Junck '10 and Rebecca Fein '10, placed second. The second varsity eight took third and the varsity eight came in fourth, giving Brown 58 points for a four-point victory over Virginia. The consistent performance across the board garnered the Bears another championship to add to their previous NCAA titles from 1999, 2000, 2002 and 2004.
"I was just very happy and thankful for winning," Murphy said. "Each year it seems to get a little bit tougher, the competition gets better. ...Virginia had all three boats in the final and they have a very strong team (with an) outstanding senior class. It was extremely difficult competition."
The Bears followed up their stateside triumph by heading to England to compete in the Henley Women's Regatta and the Henley Royal Regatta on the River Thames.
First, Brown won the Women's Regatta by defeating Ivy League opponent Radcliffe in the final on June 24. But Brown fell short in the Royal Regatta, ending the season with a loss in the semifinals to Dortmund on July 7. The Bears gave a valiant effort, but ultimately were not fast enough to catch Germany's national crew, who Murphy described as "the fastest crew in Europe."
"It's a unique opportunity to race against the best in the world," he added. "In a lot of sports you can't do that."
Though a lot of work went into preparing for the trip, Murphy said it was a great way to end the season.
"We started to plan for this trip in December," he said. "We really didn't have a lot of time to sit back and enjoy the NCAA because we had to immediately start preparing for this trip. But it was a lot of fun. I think it's a great race over here."
Now that the season has come to a close, Murphy is finally able to reflect on a wonderful year.
"I think you come away appreciating the opportunity to work with these exceptional kids that we had this year," he said. "I think it ended on a very good note. I think that's the best you can hope for. We'll get a little rest here, and then in September we'll start up again."
