Women’s crew took on its first regatta of the season against Wesleyan on Saturday. The cold day made for a good race as the Ephs and the Cardinals lined up to sprint down the course.   

The Eph 1v was coxed by Georgia Ganser ’22 and led by Samantha Lazar ’21 in the stroke seat. The boat came in second to the Cardinals by 16.7 seconds, finishing with a time of 7:45.5. 

“It was a tough race for us as a boat,” Erin Barry ’23, 3-seat, said. “After the start, we got rocked around by the wind and lost our composure. However, we know it was not our best, we figured out what we need to work on, and morale is high for doing much better with more time on the water.”

The 2v, coxed by Sunny Hu ’24, ended with a time of 8:10.5, 19.6 seconds behind the Wesleyan 2v’s 7:50.9 seconds. The 2v started strong, staying ahead of Wesleyan at the beginning but slowly lost its lead as it battled the wind down the course. 

Rosie Sokoll ’22 was the coxswain of the 3v, with Grace Goodall ’22 in the stroke seat and followed by Mila Nazarali ’23, Lauren Fossel ’22, Isabel Zollinger ’23, Greta Gruber ’23, Frances Hayward ’24, Sophie Moore ’22, and Sarah Gantt ’23. The boat crossed the finish line with a time of 9:06.5, behind Wesleyan’s time of 8:16.5. Wesleyan maintained a big lead on Williams throughout the race as Williams experienced a few difficult over-the-head crabs during the race. 

Nazarali, a member of the 3v crew, explained the sentiment on board the shell. “Our race was a pretty awesome start to the season considering that three people in the boat had only ever rowed for a week,” she said. “We are excited to continue working together and getting stronger as the season continues.” 

“Today’s regatta, after 540 days between racing dates, was a great opportunity to assess where we are as a team,” head coach Kate Maloney said. “Without many days on the water, I was proud of the determination each boat showed out of the starting blocks, and going the full measure of 2000 meters revealed where we can work to get stronger and fitter”

The team will travel to Clinton, N.Y., next weekend to race against Hamilton. 

The author is a member of the women’s crew team.