No. 4 men’s crew competed in the New England Rowing Championship (NERCs) on Saturday in Worcester, Mass., where all four varsity eights qualified for their respective grand finals. The 1v placed third behind the No. 1 Trinity Bantams in second and No. 2 Wesleyan Cardinals in first, while the remaining three boats each finished fourth.
Atlas Barnes ’29, six-seat of the 2v, said that the team has seen better results as the spring season has progressed. “We’ve shown great strides from week to week, especially highlighted from the Little Three [Regatta] and in our Tufts race,” he said. “Each crew had tremendous improvements across the board.”
The championships kicked off with the 1v, 2v, and 3v all competing in their respective qualifying heats. Each boat advanced to the grand finals, placing second, first, and third, respectively.
The afternoon’s finals opened with the 4v race, for which there had not been a qualifying round. The Ephs’ 4v finished just under four seconds behind the third-place Tufts Jumbos, securing fourth with a time of 7:02.686. The 3v followed with another fourth-place finish in 6:17.321, just under three seconds behind the third-place Cardinals.
Early in the 2v race, the Ephs found themselves in third, trailing closely behind the Bantams. The Ephs ultimately fell to fourth, finishing with a time of 6:10.737, only 0.81 seconds behind the third-place Cardinals.
In their last race of the day, the Ephs fell to fifth at the start of the 1v race, just behind the MIT Engineers. In the final stretch, as the Engineers slowed, the Ephs rushed forward, overtaking both the Engineers and the Jumbos to take bronze with a time of 5:52.277, the team’s strongest result of the day. The top three boats finished less than three seconds apart, marking another close race.
Travis Carroll ’29, stroke seat in the 1v, described the race as an important barometer for the postseason. “This was kind of the first race to prove where we’re at going into championship season,” he said. “It was exciting to see success come from a lot of experimentation that we’ve had during practice.”
The race had special significance for the seven-seat of the 1v, Quinn Carroll ’27, who rowed directly behind his younger brother, Travis, for the first time. “We’ve never really raced together, so it was fun to test our mettle as a brotherhood,” he said.
Travis reflected on how having his brother row behind him gave him an extra reason to pull hard during the race. “I was looking for that aggression and that racing mindset,” he said. “The thing that I relied on this time was knowing my brother was behind me and giving it all for him.”
Barnes highlighted the team’s pre-race routine as key to their competitive performance. “Everybody does their own thing, but we come together [to meditate] before the race and understand what we have to do,” he said.
The Ephs left the weekend encouraged by the progress they’ve made after a season of continued refinements. “It was exciting to see success come from a lot of experimentation that we’ve had during practice,” Travis said. “It’s exciting to see success [coming] from … figuring out a rhythm that works for us.”
As the season nears an end, the Ephs pointed to the team’s sense of community as a particular strength. “We have especially good upperclassman leadership,” Barnes said. “Our captains do a great job of [creating] a culture of success and … dedication, which I really appreciate.”
Quinn further noted how differences in this year’s roster makeup have helped sustain that culture. “Normally we have at least half of the juniors go abroad, and this year, most of them stayed, which I think was really helpful for team culture, and really staying dedicated throughout the whole year,” he said. “This year, especially, we’ve been leaning more towards having fun.”
The Ephs will return to Worcester to compete at the National Invitational Rowing Championship, which doubles as the NESCAC Championship, at Lake Quinsigamond on May 10. The race will also serve as a qualifier for Intercollegiate Rowing Association Nationals, which take place between May 29 and May 31 in Sacramento, Calif.
Editor’s Note: Henry Hilton and Soren Anderson-Flynn, members of the Record editorial board and the men’s crew team, were not involved in the writing or editing of this article.
Correction: A previous version of this article incorrectly stated the event as International Rowing Association Nationals instead of the Intercollegiate Rowing Association Nationals. This article was updated on May 6 at 10:10 a.m. to reflect this change.
