ITHACA, N.Y. — Coming off a productive winter of training, the Cornell women's rowing team will open its spring racing season Saturday, hosting Boston University, Colgate and George Washington on Cayuga Inlet.
Saturday's regatta will run in two rounds, with the top two varsity eights and three varsity four boats all in action. Cornell will also deploy a 4V4+ crew, which will race in tandem with the 3V4+. Racing begins at 11:10 a.m. with the 1V8 against Boston University. The second round of racing will commence at 1:30 p.m. Race action will be streamed live on ESPN+.
Steve Coppola, the Staley Head Coach of Cornell Women's Rowing, enters the weekend with measured optimism. The team has posted across-the-board improvements on its 2,000-meter ergometer tests, with Coppola pointing to a strong collective mentality as a driving force behind the winter's progress.
"The vibes have been strong all winter," Coppola said. "They've been cheering and pushing each other to be bold on the tough workouts."
One moment in particular stood out to Coppola — ahead of the team's Valentine's Day "2x2k" workout, a rower called out to her teammates: "Remember, we don't HAVE to do this ... we GET to do this." That attitude, he said, has defined the team's approach this offseason. One of the juniors also mentioned to Coppola, "I realized about halfway through that I really enjoyed the pain."
The Big Red have a clear benchmark in mind heading into the spring. Last year, Cornell finished three seconds outside the top 25 and the team is hungry to close that gap. Still, Coppola acknowledged the uncertainty that comes with early-season racing.
"We've certainly made a good jump in our fitness and strength. I'm excited to see how that shows up in our water results," he said. "I'm being reserved in my expectations because what I don't know is what our competition has done in their winter training, and that's the fun part of early spring racing."
ROUND ONE SCHEDULE OF EVENTS
11:10 a.m. — 1V8+: Cornell (Lane 2), Boston University (Lane 3)
11:20 a.m. — 1V8+: George Washington (Lane 2), Colgate (Lane 3)
11:40 a.m. — 2V8+: Cornell (Lane 2), Boston University (Lane 3)
11:50 a.m. — 2V8+: George Washington (Lane 2), Colgate (Lane 3)
12:10 p.m. — 1V4+: Cornell (Lane 2), Boston University (Lane 3)
12:20 p.m. — 1V4+: George Washington (Lane 2), Colgate (Lane 3)
12:30 p.m. — 2V4+: Cornell (Lane 2), Boston University (Lane 3)
12:40 p.m. — 2V4+: George Washington (Lane 2), Colgate (Lane 3)
1 p.m. — 3V4+: Cornell 3V4+ (Lane 1), Cornell 4V4+ (Lane 2), Colgate (Lane 3)
ROUND TWO SCHEDULE OF EVENTS
1:30 p.m. — 1V8+: Cornell (Lane 2), Colgate (Lane 3)
1:40 p.m. — 1V8+: Boston University (Lane 2), George Washington (Lane 3)
1:50 p.m. — 2V8+: Cornell (Lane 2), George Washington (Lane 3)
2 p.m. — 2V8+: Boston University (Lane 2), Colgate (Lane 3)
2:10 p.m. — 1V4+: Cornell (Lane 2), George Washington (Lane 3)
2:20 p.m. — 1V4+: Boston University (Lane 2), Colgate (Lane 3)
2:30 p.m. — 2V4+: Cornell (Lane 1), Boston University (Lane 2), George Washington (Lane 3)
2:40 p.m. — 3V4+: Cornell 3V4+ (Lane 1), Cornell 4V4+ (Lane 2), Colgate (Lane 3)
LINEUPS
To be announced later
