Boys’ Crew Team Successful at Invitational

This past Tuesday, Exeter boys’ crew faced off against St. John’s, Simsbury, Shrewsbury, Brookline and Hingham in the Exeter Invitational at Lake Quinsigamond in Worcester, MA. The first boat placed second, St. John’s beating it out by five seconds, while the second boat placed first. 

Big Red and St. John’s shot up ahead of the rest of the competition early in the first boat race. Although they were neck and neck off the start, the Exeter boys failed to settle into a comfortable racing pace out of the start sequence and couldn’t find the right rhythm for the remainder of the race. Around the 750 meter mark, Big Red began to fall back. While they made a move at the 1000 meter mark, tightening the gap, St. John’s answered Exeter’s attack with a move of its own, holding onto its lead. 

The first boat sprinted valiantly in the tail end of the race, but it ultimately could not close the gap. 

Although they won by significant margins against four of their competitors, members of the first boat were disappointed by the outcome of the race. Nevertheless, they intend to use the race to inform their training in the next week as they prepare to face off against their toughest competitor, Kent. 

“We did not perform as well as we could have, but we learnt a lot from our mistakes,” upper and co-captain Francis Baviera said. Kent, one of the best crews in the nation, has had about a month more of water time than Exeter. To prepare for the upcoming regatta, the first boat will be seat racing, practicing starts, settling and sprinting. In addition, they will be working to maintain control while racing. 

Senior Alec Howe felt that the boys were “too frantic due to lack of race experience,” on Saturday. “The team needs to work on retaining mental clarity throughout the race,” he said.

The second boat dominated its race, winning with open water. Exeter was neck-and-neck with St. John’s for the first few strokes. Senior Aidan Wolff King commented on the skill of their start, saying “We started surprisingly strong, faster than we had in practice.”  St. John’s rated higher than Exeter out of the settle, but the Exeter crew began to take seats on them. 

Once the team found its rhythm, it cleared the  St. John’s boat in the adjacent lane. The crew continued to extend its lead throughout the race, and eventually won by five seconds. The next closest competitor, Simsbury, finished fourteen seconds behind. 

Wolff King was proud of the boat’s performance. That said, he felt that the team had been unable to maintain its composure and strength throughout the race. “Going into next week, we’re looking to build discipline as we get fatigued and [maintain] calm strokes through the body of the race.”

This upcoming weekend, Exeter boys’ crew will be facing off against St. Paul’s and Kent at St. Paul’s.