READY FOR BATTLE: The Princeton University men’s heavyweight first varsity 8 shows its form. Last Saturday, the top boat defeated Navy by more than nine seconds to retain the Navy-Princeton Rowing Cup. The 4th-ranked Tigers clocked a time of 5:28.6 over the 2,000-meter course on the Severn River in Annapolis, Md. with the No. 10 Midshipmen coming in at 5:37.7. Princeton will face Columbia and Penn in Teaneck. N.J. on April 9 in the race for the Childs Cup. (Photo by Beverly Schaefer, Courtesy of Princeton’s Office of Athletic Communications)

Ending last season by competing overseas at the Royal Henley Regatta in England in July gave the Princeton University men’s heavyweight rowers a head start on the 2016 campaign.

“I think any time you get the chance to take more strokes with the guys in the season, the better,” said Princeton head coach Greg Hughes.

“That was a good foundation for the group that we have this year; 21 of the 27 people that we took over there are back this year so it definitely was a boost.”

The returning rowers also got a boost from taking third at both the Eastern Sprints and the Intercollegiate Rowing Association (IRA) national championship regatta.

“The guys came way from the IRA really excited about being able to compete at that level at the national championship,” said Hughes.

“It has been a big goal that we have had; those types of goals take time. When we are working in the trenches for that long it is good to see, hey the work that we are doing is actually having a positive effect. I think a ton of credit goes to the kids for pursuing that goal long term and sticking with it; that is hard.

Hughes credits senior captain Martin Barakso with setting a positive tone around the team.

“Martin is definitely the kind of leader that leads by example; he is the kind of guy who holds himself to a very, very high standard and has high expectations for himself and for his personal performances,” said Hughes of Barakso, a native of Nanaimo, British Columbia who rowed for Canada at the World Championships last summer.

“In a sport like ours, that is an important trait because you are in a boat with eight other people and there is not any concrete metric sitting there that is identifying one person’s effort over another person’s effort. It all just comes together in boat speed. He never looks beyond himself and I think that is actually good. He holds himself to that standard and looks for the places where he needs to improve and tries to make that benefit the boat. I think he is a really great role model that way.”

The Tigers put in a good effort on opening day against Georgetown as they swept three races in the March 26 regatta held on Lake Carnegie with the first varsity leading the way as it posted a 21-second victory, with a time of 6:05.0 on the 2,000-meter course with the Hoya top boat coming in at 6:26.0.

“It was a good start for us; that race is more than just a race because we stay out there and do some more scrimmage-style pieces,” said Hughes.

“It is a really good opportunity for us to go and start to figure some things out with combinations and in combination. It was really useful. The water was really nice for the afternoon sessions. We were able to go out and do some really good work and figure some stuff out. All the boats came away from that event having made some good improvement. It was something that we really needed to do, especially knowing that we are going on the road; to be able to get that and shake off the cobwebs a little bit and get things going before we started having to travel every weekend.”

Last Saturday, the Tigers traveled to Navy for the first of four straight weekend regattas on the road. Continuing its strong start, Princeton won four of five races with only the fifth varsity 8 not prevailing.

“All boats made some nice improvements and were more consistent in their racing which I thought was really great to see,” said Hughes.

“Also they handled the environment really well. It is a place that can be a little bit challenging with the water. We did see a little bit of that, the wind came up a little bit. It is a pretty open and exposed place and that is a new environment for this year’s team to go and race.”

In retaining the Navy-Princeton Rowing Cup, the first varsity looked impressive as it won by more than nine seconds, clocking a time of 5:28.6 with the Midshipmen finishing at 5:37.7 over the 2,000-meter course on the Severn River in Annapolis, Md.

“I thought it was a really solid piece for them and, most importantly, they handled the conditions well enough to stay consistent through the race and I think that is what I came away with as the biggest plus,” added Hughes, whose top boat is ranked fourth nationally.

“Down the course, they kept their quality and were able to keep doing good work. I thought that was really positive. There were a couple of things that we know we need to go back and work on this week.”

The Tigers will try to produce another high quality performance this weekend as they face Columbia and Penn in Teaneck. N.J. on April 9 in the race for the venerable Childs Cup.

“It is bigger than just the boats we have got in it; it is the oldest cup race in collegiate sports,” said Hughes.

“There is a lot of tradition and history there. It is a race where you always see the absolute best of all the teams that are in it. We will be ready, I expect it to be a big one.”

In Hughes’ view, competing in four straight regattas away from home should hone his rowers’ focus.

“I like going on the road; I think one of the things that is great about it is that once you leave campus we are in a pretty comfortable environment and you have your hotel room to yourself, meals are all organized and you can focus on the task at hand,” said Hughes.

“It is a life lesson for them to be able to cut through the noise and really focus in on what is most important; having control over the things you can have control over and not worrying about the things that you don’t have control over. It all plays into how you race. In races, sure you have a plan and you have an idea of your opponent but in the heat of the race, you don’t know how that is actually going to play out. You are going to have to be ready to step up at points that are maybe new and different and react to things that you weren’t expecting. Going on the road is a great tool for developing that skill.”