Despite brisk and windy conditions, women’s crew triumphed on Saturday, seeing three of its four boats defeat the Wesleyan Cardinals in the 55th Little Three Regatta, held in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. The 2v, 3v, and 4+ all took home victories against their respective Wesleyan boats, with the 1v falling a few seconds short against the Cardinals’ 1v.
The Ephs opened the spring season on a strong note, sweeping the Skidmore Sprints and the Donohue Cup, the first two regattas of the year. “These early races have really been a confidence booster in all the hard work we’ve put in this past year and last year and how strong our first years are, both recruited athletes and walk-ons,” said Ella Potee ’25, the 7 seat on the 3v. “It’s a reflection of all that hard work and it’s been exciting for it to come with some wins.”
The Ephs entered the Little Three Regatta excited for the opportunity to compete against a rival team. Though the regatta was once a faceoff against both Wesleyan and Amherst, Amherst’s crew program has rarely participated in recent years, meaning the race has become a head-to-head contest between the Ephs and Cardinals. “We were definitely viewing this regatta as a really good indicator of our team’s strength, especially because it happens every year and it’s been going on for so long,” noted Sophia Clavenna ’27, the 4 seat in the 2v.
“Both programs are incredibly strong in Division III,” added Claire McDonald ’26, the 2 seat for the Ephs’ 1v. “Coming into this race, we knew they were going to be really fast, and I think our training [and] having each boat be really competitive with each other was helpful.”
Poor weather caused a lengthy delay before the boats could begin racing, forcing an unusually long warm-up on the water for each boat. “By the time we launched, we had been warming up for 90 minutes, which is not at all normal,” McDonald said.
Because of the delay, the 1v and 2v races were combined into one heat, which kicked off at around 4:45 p.m. — over an hour later than scheduled. The Ephs’ boats battled hard against one another and their respective Wesleyan opponents. The Cardinals’ 1v took home a narrow victory in the 2k in 7:42.63 to the Ephs’ 7:45.15. The Ephs’ 2v performed valiantly, finishing in 7:46.36 to defeat the Cardinals’ 2v, which finished in 7:59.34.
The 1v got off to a solid start, but the Cardinals’ 1v picked up a few seats on the Ephs in the opening 500 meters. The 1v hung tough, however, slowly gaining ground on the Cardinals over the second 500 and drawing nearly even by the 1000. According to McDonald, the 1v struggled towards the end, which ultimately prevented them from prevailing against the Cardinals’ 1v. “The [conditions] started to get to us in that third 500, and when we came into that final 500 and started to sprint, we weren’t quite as connected as we had hoped,” she said.
The Ephs’ 2v turned in another strong performance, starting evenly and gaining ground on the Cardinals’ 2v over the course of the first 1,000 meters, only increasing their advantage over the rest of the race.
“The third 500 was really hard, but very fun,” Clavenna said. “The wind was super gusty at that point, and everyone in my boat was very tired, but we focused back on what we had talked about before the race — on our plan to stay technically focused and strong — and I think that helped us gain open water on the other Wesleyan boat.”
The Ephs’ 3v was next up, pulling hard for a decisive win over the Cardinals’ 3v, with a time of 8:15.25 to the Cardinals’ 8:24.80. Potee lauded the crew’s focus, smart moves throughout the race, and ability to grapple with the winds as they cruised to victory. After establishing a comfortable lead early on, the Ephs’ concentration never broke. “Going into that last 500, we were still up and had more in the tank, and our sprint was really strong,” Potee said. “We had been working on perfecting that as much as possible over the past couple weeks.”
While the lengthy wait for the races to begin did cause some frustration, the Ephs did their best to maintain a positive mindset. “I think the hourlong warm-up that we had, which is atypical, just made us more connected and more in-sync with each other,” Potee said, when discussing the performance of the 3v boat.
To punctuate a successful day of competition, the Ephs’ 4+ picked up another head-to-head win against the Cardinals, earning a 25-second margin of victory.
The Ephs were proud of the resilience their boats displayed throughout the day, battling both a delayed start and difficult racing conditions, as headwinds reached 25 to 30 mph during the race. “We knew coming in that the race was just going to be a battle of who could handle the conditions, who could handle the delay, and I think that every boat did a very good job of doing that,” McDonald noted.
The results against Wesleyan, having energized the team, added to the trend of success across the board for the Ephs. “I would say all the regattas, especially this one, have shown our depth,” Clavenna said. “The fact that the 2v, the 3v, and the 4+ all beat Wesleyan was really exciting, especially because the margins for all of those races were really good.”
Next weekend, women’s crew will race at its home course at Lake Onota against Tufts and Hamilton. The team remains confident as postseason racing looms. “Keeping that mentality of not underestimating anyone but also knowing that we are building speed throughout the season is a good one to have going forward,” Potee said.
