Despite the wind trying to thwart their chances of winning, the Jesuit crew team still succeeds. With only one boat not winning first place honors, last month’s area match was a good spring-board toward the regional championships in Oklahoma City later this month.
On April 21-22, Jesuit crew rowed against local crew teams in East Dallas’ White Rock Lake. Both the Varsity 8 and Varsity 4 boats took home two wins apiece. While the day was an overall success, the lightweight boat hoped their outcome had been better.
“We didn’t practice as a boat,” said Luke Uetrecht ’13 when asked what went wrong. “There was a mismatch so it was a disappointing result.”
In contrast, crew’s big boys excelled. “The Varsity boats did well,” said Coach John Fife, “and it was a good test for us for the regional championships. We faced all of our major opponents.” Uetrecht, the lightweight rower, also stated that the Varsity races “were close the first half, but then we broke away at the end.”
“It was a good preview for our next regatta,” remarked Andy Kim ’12. “We should win and then move on to Nationals.” It was a good result to the regatta, but the wind was anything but helpful. Mother nature provided for a choppy, windy day on the lake.
“The starts were a mess,” recalled Andy. “In the Varsity 8 category, the starter failed to ready all the boats before
starting. Because of the wind, we started a full length behind but still won the race.” “The wind was on and off,” Uetrecht remembers. “We almost got pushed into the shore a couple of times too.”
The crew team looks ready to defeat their competition in Oklahoma City next weekend in the regional championships. For more information on how they perform, how to watch the races, and how to do crew next year, contact Coach Fife at jfife@jesuitcp.org.
