The women’s rowing team made their longest trip of the season to California to compete in the 20-team San Diego Crew Cup on the weekend of March 30-April 1. The trip was a success with respect to the team’s races as well as its experience.

“The Crew Classic was a great weekend for the team,” senior Elena McDermott said. “It’s great to get out to the West Coast to face a lot of teams that we don’t normally get to race against.”

In the seven-boat heat, the varsity eight boat finished third, claiming its spot in Sunday’s finals. With a strong race the next day, the Wildcats finished second to Lehigh by only .45 seconds.

Although the team was disappointed not to claim the race, McDermott reflected positively on the experience saying, “The two races together gave us a clear idea of our strengths and weaknesses, and the entire boat is confident that we’ll be able to work on our weaknesses in time for championship races at the end of the season.”

On April 6 the team traveled again to Coventry, Conn., to take on the University of Connecticut. The Huskies were not the only obstacle the Wildcats were forced to battle; they were also forced to deal with 15-20 mile per hour winds and rough waters. The weather got the best of the team, and the Huskies came out on top in all four races. Despite the conditions, the varsity eight had a good race, narrowly missing first place by two seconds.

“While we weren’t happy with how the races went, racing in adverse conditions of cold and wind will make the rest of the season seem a lot better,” McDermott said.

The team looks forward to one of its biggest races of the season this weekend in Cherry Hill, N.J. The Knecht Cup will host teams from all over the country and is one of the largest and most competitive East Coast regattas.

“We’re also really excited about our novice eight,” McDermott said. “This boat is composed of all first year college rowers, of whom only half rowed in high school…we’re excited to see how they compare to the other crews. We also have a lightweight four and a novice four, who, like the novice eight, haven’t raced in a large regatta yet, but have been working really hard for the past weeks to get ready for this.”