Radcliffe Lightweight Four Outlasts Tigers

What exactly is a lightweight?

The members of the Radcliffe varsity women's lightweight four may have been confused Saturday when they lined up against a Princeton boat--described by its coach as an "almost-lightweight"--comprised of members of the third heavyweight Tiger squad. "Almost-lightweight" turned out to be a lot more powerful than the Black and White lights were used to, but Radcliffe held on to top the Princeton third heavyweight four by three seconds, with Princeton's varsity lightweight four and JV lightweight four bringing up the rear.

"We were taken aback at first because they were all 160-lbs.," Harvard Co-Captain Sarah Yeates said.

Taken aback, but not overwhelmed, as the Black and White overcame an early deficit to pull ahead of Princeton by about two seats at the 500-meter mark and increased its lead to a full boat length at the halfway point of the race.

An early Princeton sprint with 500 meters remaining in the race cut the Radcliffe lead back down to two seats but the Black and White responded with an early sprint of its own--with about 50 strokes remaining in the race instead of the usual 30--to take back the comfortable lead.

"It was a really narrow race course, which we're not used to racing on the Charles," Yeates said. "It was a good race for us, especially since it was our first action in a four."

The Rest of the Slate

The Radcliffe JV lightweight boat was upended by Cornell's JV boat, losing by six seconds, and the Black and White first freshman boat won by a comfortable margin over Cornell and Princeton.

Radcliffe hosts the local competition next weekend--Simmons, Mt. Holyoke, Wellesley and MIT will all join the Black and White on the Charles Saturday.