First Scrimmage

On March 19th, the 4+ headed down to UVA to join the Bucknell/Hobart/UVA scrimmage and finally touch race cadences for extended distances. The morning began similar to most Saturdays, with a dark, early wake up, except this time we had a slightly longer commute to the boathouse.

Upon arrival, we were greeted warmly by our hosts, given a space to camp in their erg room, and allowed to toy with the boat's rig in preparation for the pieces. It was my first visit to UVA's boathouse and was impressed by the venue and facilities. Championship posters hung from the boat bays, trophies adorned the walls, and sleek shells glistened in the morning light. It was also the first boathouse I had seen where a varsity and a club team share the facilities and was thus surprised at the divide of certain equipment's use, such as the medical supplies. However, I was pleasantly surprised to find out that my alma mater, Yale University, had sent their women's crew team to race UVA later that afternoon and was able to see some familiar faces and yell "Go Bulldogs!".

The day's pieces were 4*1000 meters, with two pieces as the first 1000 meters of the race and the other two as base 1000s. Our opponents both hailed from UVA, one 4+ being their lightweight 4+ (who placed 4th at the 2015 Head of the Charles in the Lwt 4+) and a novice 4+. We were piecing on on their 2000 meter course and conditions were decent, with moderate chop and a decreasing tailwind through the course.

We traded pieces with the lwt 4+, taking two from them in fast conditions. We attempted to hold a planned base cadence but rowed slightly higher than we had planned, in part thanks to the tailwind. UVA planned a BBQ for all crews that we raided before making our way back to Baltimore. John even managed to catch Josh and Rob taking a nap:



Thanks to UVA for being gracious hosts!