The Bates rowing teams opened the 2023 spring season Saturday against Ivy League opponent Columbia University at Overpeck Park.
On a 1,500m buoyed course, the Bobcats competed in 40 degree cloudy weather with occasional rain and a quartering headwind at 12-14mph.
The Bates men raced the defending IRA national champion Columbia Lightweights. In the first race, the Bobcats crossed the finish line in 5:01, with the Columbia lightweights 1V winning in 4:38.39. Then the teams squared off again, with the Bobcats narrowing the gap considerably, at 5:00 to Columbia’s 4:46.67. The Columbia lightweights 2V actually won the second race in 4:46.28.
Bates’ second varsity eight raced to the finish in 5:07 while the 3V crossed the finish line in 5:20 in the first piece. The 2V finished the second race in 5:21 with the 3V hot on their heels, crossing the finish line in 5:25. In both races the Columbia Lightweights finished a couple boat lengths ahead, with no time taken.
On the women’s side, the Bobcats took on a Columbia program that finished sixth in the Ivy League a year ago. The Bates first varsity eight raced to the finish in the first piece in 5:44 and cut four seconds off their time in the second race, crossing the line in 5:40. The Columbia 1V won both races, with times of 5:12 and 5:20 respectively. The second varsity eight had no time taken in their first race and finished in 5:57 in the second piece. Meanwhile the 3V saw dramatic improvement, going from 5:56 to 5:48 in their second go at it.
“It was a real solid day of racing by all when you consider we had only been on the water for a couple of hours the day before,” head coach Peter Steenstra said. “Columbia is very strong competition and we really appreciate their willingness to host us for the weekend. Now that we’ve knocked some of the rust off our stroke we can focus our attention on preparations for a double regatta weekend in Boston.”
The Bates women are back in action next Saturday when the Bobcats take on Simmons. Meanwhile, the men race next Saturday against the Harvard Lightweights.
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