The women's crew team started the defense of its national title with seventh and 23rd place finishes by the A and B boats, respectively, at the 5000-meter Head of the Charles Regatta in Boston this past weekend. The Championship Eight's time of 16:43 beat Ivy foe Princeton by less than half a second. The US Rowing squad beat Bruno by only 13 seconds, and the other top-six finishers constituted a national team field that included Canada and the Netherlands.
The B boat finished well ahead of many of the other collegiate A boats that were competing, coming in with a time of 17:25. The Championship Four took eighth. The Bears will continue their national championship defense next weekend at the Princeton Chase.
The men's crew finished on top of all the Ivy and EARC teams that competed in the men's Head of the Charles race, taking second overall to Washington. The Bears were only 1.7 seconds behind the Huskies with their time of 14:29, while beating out national teams from all over Europe. They also had to overcome interference by the Wisconsin boat on the way to one of their best finishes at this race in a decade.
The B boat finished eighth, and the Championship Four took 17th after incurring a penalty for interference. The next race for the men is the Tail of the Charles Nov. 22.
- Amy Ehrhart
