It’s never easy to field a strong team when important athletes are sidelined with injuries. When the sport in question is crew – perhaps the ultimate team sport – that task becomes even more daunting.
“We only have two eights and two spares this year, when we usually have that third eight,” said BU coach Rodney Pratt. “It’s a result of having smaller freshman crews in the past few years, which I think reflects low on-campus interest and the trend toward a smaller male student body here.”
Despite the setbacks, Pratt said his team is rowing better than last year. But his major goal heading into the team’s first race of the spring season versus Syracuse University tomorrow morning is to get his athletes “fit and healthy.” In addition to having two rowers currently recovering from injuries, several men are battling lingering illnesses.
“When you work out hard, it does depress your immune system, so the guys are more susceptible to illness right after workouts,” Pratt said. “You’d think they’d be healthy because they’re in such good shape, but that’s not really the case.”
“Even though we have a smaller squad, and every man counts even more than usual this year, we’re just taking it as one more challenge,” said senior and first boat coxswain Chris Perry. “Actually, it doesn’t seem like anything will faze us.”
In a field as tough as the one BU faces, seemingly small things such as those lingering illnesses could mean the difference between winning or losing a race. The Charles River is home to two powerhouses in men’s collegiate rowing: Harvard University and Northeastern University. Both schools traditionally turn in impressive performances in the fall and spring racing seasons, but the Terriers have a special rivalry with the Huskies.
“I’m not really sure why we have such a rivalry with them,” said senior Dan Greenberg. “I think part of it is their proximity, but the origins of it are from before I came here.”
“We just always want to beat Northeastern,” said freshman coach Dave Lefebvre. “But I wouldn’t say they’re necessarily the only team to beat this year.”
The men’s team got on the water less than a month ago when they traveled to Clemson University in South Carolina for a week of training over Spring Break.
“The training week went very well,” Pratt said. “Since it was our first week on the water, I decided to work on getting our technical work done, and we slowly built into harder stuff.”
Pratt has faith that his crews will only improve with each race.
“It’s easier to train better when the weather is nicer, especially since the temperature difference from early morning to afternoon may be 30 degrees. That difference can really affect our morning practices,” he said.
While Lefebvre said he doesn’t like to make predictions about his freshman team’s performance, he was also optimistic about the season’s outlook.
“We’re not a very deep squad, but we have some phenomenally talented guys,” he said.
Four of the nine athletes in his first freshman boat walked on to the team in the fall.
Because of sickness and the unfriendly weather in recent days, Lefebvre said his crews will end the season faster than they begin it. Tomorrow’s performance against Syracuse will be a good measure of where his team stands because Syracuse races powerhouse Brown University on Sunday.
“We’re really confident,” Greenberg said. “We realize Syracuse is a fast crew this year, but we’re up to the challenge.”
Saturday’s race will also mark the first presentation of the Conlan Cup, named after Jim Conlan, class of 1940, who “pretty much started BU crew,” according to Pratt.
“We have raced Syracuse for probably 20-odd years, and it’s the oldest race we have that we didn’t have a cup for,” Pratt said. “It’s sort of the passing of an era. There aren’t many Division I rowing programs that can say their founders are still alive, and I think that’s something special.”
Perry said that, although the team is always psyched for races, the men will have an “extra motivation” this weekend because they’ll be racing for a cup named after their founder.
The BU varsity will field a first and second varsity eight against the Orangemen tomorrow morning on the Charles. The freshman team will race an eight and a four.
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