BRONZE AGE: The Princeton University women’s open crew varsity 8 displays its form in a race earlier this spring. Last weekend, Princeton’s top boat took third in the grand final at the NCAA Rowing Championships on Cooper River in Pennsauken. The bronze medal effort helped the Tigers finish third in the team standings at the competition behind champions Stanford and runner-up Washington. (Photo by Ed Hewitt/Row2k, provided courtesy of Princeton Athletics)

By Bill Alden

Lori Dauphiny will tell you that a key to the success of her Princeton University women’s open crew program over the years has been the effort put in by all of the rowers in the squad from top to bottom. Last weekend at the NCAA Rowing Championships on Cooper River in Pennsauken, that depth was on display as Princeton finished third in the team standings at the competition with 113 points behind champions Stanford (129 points) and runner-up Washington (120). The Tiger varsity 8 placed third in the grand final with the second varsity 8 taking fifth and the varsity 4 coming in sixth.

“What I am most pleased about is that every kid was on that podium,” said Princeton head coach Dauphiny, whose squad also took third in the NCAA regatta last year. “That is a hard thing to do and that doesn’t happen very often and now we have had it happen two years in a row. It shows our strength. Really our program is 52 people, not the 25 that got to NCAAs. It is the 52 that got us there. I always like to recognize them and I wish I could have had them on the podium as well. It was meaningful, inspiring, and motivating to have everyone on our NCAA team on that podium.”

Princeton’s varsity 8 put together an inspiring run as it suffered its first loss of the season in its opening heat on Friday and then places first in the semis the next day to punch its ticket in the grand final.

“It gave us a little kick in the pants, just to see the speed of the Pac 12 and to know that we were in it,” said Dauphiny, whose top boat was seeded first coming into the competition. “We have not been in that position before. We had been in close races. We have been down before but hadn’t lost any races. I think it was a really important lesson. They took that lesson and applied it to the semifinal. They picked a couple of things that they felt they needed to work on in the race. They really honed in and focused on that in the semifinal and did a fantastic job.”

While the Tiger top boat ended up taking third behind winner Stanford and runner-up Washington in the grand final, the rowers put in a fantastic effort.

“It was also a good race for them, they poured it out; Stanford was fast, we knew they were going to be fast and Washington is fast as well,” said Dauphiny of the final, which saw Princeton clock a time of 6:22.178 over the 2,000 meter course with Stanford coming in at 6:17.154 and Washington finishing in 6:19.558.

“I don’t think there is any more they could have done. There were no regrets at the end of that race. They gave it their best, they were pretty pleased with it and medaling. I know we came in ranked No. 1 but that is for entertainment purposes only. It comes down to side-by-side racing. It was exactly what everyone said, all the hype, it was some of the closest racing, some of the fiercest racing in women’s rowing.”

The second varsity 8 out in some fierce racing of its own, taking first in its heat and then coming in third in its semi to squeak into the grand final.

“The 2V had a very good heat and then they had a close semi,” said Dauphiny. “It was a solid semi, there were a few things they picked to work on as well. Their sprint, the end sequence of the race was their last thing that they really needed to bring together as a boat. They poured it all out in the final, I don’t think they have any regrets either.”

The varsity 4 was a work in progress but managed to make it back to the grand final a year after winning gold.

“They did change their lineup and they feel like they just really didn’t have the time to adjust,” said Dauphiny. “They did feel it was their best performance. They were pretty proud of what they were able to accomplish. I think they just needed more time together and they would probably have done even better. They had a good race.”

Noting that the squad went through some struggles in the fall season, Dauphiny was proud of what her rowers accomplished collectively on Memorial Day weekend.

“It is almost unbelievable, I didn’t know if they could do it although I didn’t say that to them,” said Dauphiny. “It was really impressive. I think the fall was critical in our development as a team. The results from the fall were not successful throughout the team. There was some success but it was a rocky result at both the Head of Charles and the Princeton Chase. That reinvigorated us, it made us examine what we were doing and why. We had a renewed commitment to what was necessary to get there.”