April 17, 2012

 The Georgetown Lightweight Women traveled to Camden, NJ, this past weekend to participate in the Knecht Cup. 

 “Overall, this race marked a huge step forward for both crews, who demonstrated high-end potential speed.  The performances were encouraging,” said lightweight coach Hank Zimmerman.  The first varsity led perennial contenders Wisconsin for the majority of their first heat, although ultimately finished second by just under 3 seconds.  In doing so, they qualified for the grand final the next day, in which they finished fifth overall. 

 “The rowing during the final was not quite as composed as the day before and that cost us.  However, the experience was valuable, and gives us direct evidence of where we need to go moving forward,” said Zimmerman.  The second varsity race was equally exciting.  “The second varsity learned two lessons this weekend.  The first is that they have great racing instincts.  The second is that they need to temper their immediate desire to rocket ahead, with a realistic approach to pacing, lest they run out of steam with five hundred meters to go.  We learned the latter lesson the hard way, unfortunately, but that does not diminish its value,” said assistant coach Jimmy Newcombe. 

 The lightweight women will travel to Princeton, NJ, next weekend to square off against the Tiger lightweight women.