SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Adhering to the same script they had followed a year ago, Columbia's varsity heavyweights rebounded from a sub-par opening heat to win their Repechage and remain in contention for the men's rowing national championship.
Although their third place in the morning heat Thursday cost them automatic advancement to Friday's A-B semifinals, the only ones leading to the Grand Final, the Lions responded in the afternoon Repechage.
Knowing that only the winner of each Repechage heat could move on to an A-B semifinal, the nine members of the Columbia boat took their mark at the beginning of the 2000-meter Lake Natoma course with their backs to the wall.
"We didn't row very well in the opening heat," head coach Mike Zimmer said, "but in the afternoon we adjusted."
It was the Ivy League against the Golden State, with Columbia, Princeton, UC San Diego, and the University of San Diego all vying for that all-important first place.
The Lions had been unusually slow off the line in the first heat, but this time they jumped into an early lead, and opened up a two-second lead over Princeton after the first 500 meters, with the two San Diego schools trailing.
By the halfway point, the San Diegans were out of contention, while the two Ivies fought it out. Columbia slowly moved away from the Tigers, opening up a three-second margin by 1000 meters.
In the third 500, both teams poured it on, but Columbia's stroking was more effective, as it went up by about four seconds, nearly open water. The Tigers rallied in the final section of the race, only to see the Lions open a wider gap, winning by open water in 6:04.80 to the Tigers' 6:09.87. The University of San Diego was third, seven seconds further back.
"We rowed significantly better in the afternoon," Zimmer said, "although the conditions were slower." The lake, scene of many West Coast championship competitions, is noted for a strong crosswind. Thursday, it was exacerbated by powerful tailwinds and unseasonably chilly temperatures hovering in the 50's.
Columbia's second varsity also faltered in its opening heat, finishing fourth of five, behind Brown, Boston University, and Cornell. The 11th-seeded Lion 2V will row in its Repechage Friday, needing to beat both 4th-seeded Wisconsin and 7th-seeded Stanford to advance to the Grand Final.
The varsity eight will compete in the first semifinal, at 11:45 a.m. PDT (2:45 p.m. EDT). In order to advance to the Grand Final, the 10th-seeded Lions must finish no worse than third in a field that includes Cal (1st seed), Harvard (3), Wisconsin (4), Boston U. (7) and Dartmouth (14).
"We had a decent first day of rowing," Zimmer said. "Hopefully we'll improve tomorrow, still going forward." However, he cautioned, "there is no easy semifinal at an IRA."
Thursday's results: IRA Men's National Championships Thursday, June 4, 2009 Lake Natoma, Sacramento, Calif.
Varsity Eights
Repechage Four (winner advances to A-B semifinal, others to C-D semifinal) 1. COLUMBIA, 6:04.80 2. Princeton, 6:09.87 3. U. of San Diego, 6:16.84 4. UC San Diego, 6:20.47
Heat Four (1 &2 to A-B semifinal, others to Repechage) 1. Stanford, 5:58.30 2. Boston U. 6:04.67 3. COLUMBIA, 6:09.46 4. MIT, 6:19.23 5. Penn, 6:22.91
Second Varsity Eights
Heat Three (winner to Grand Final, others to Friday Repechage) 1. Brown, 6:01.20 2. Boston U., 6:06.40 3. Cornell, 6:06.75 4. COLUMBIA, 6:22.08 5. Dartmouth, 6:34.45
Courtesy: Columbia University Athletics/Gene Boyars
