Saturday was a great day of racing on the Patapsco River near the Baltimore Inner Harbor. All four GDS boats performed well in the Baltimore Invitational, despite the fact that this was their first race of the season and weather conditions have limited practice time. The team was pleased to see so many parents there to cheer them on. Many thanks to this week’s volunteers as well as to the Lerners who hosted the dinner Friday night.
Reported by Men’s Coach Alan Burch:
“The men’s Varsity 8 finished 6 seconds behind Wilson, racing even with them through most of the race. They finished fifth in their heat, ninth of 11 overall.
“The men’s Junior Varsity 4 finished 3rd of 5 in its heat (not 4th as we thought originally), and 13 of 16 overall. This boat, with two novices, had an equipment issue to overcome as well. Their result scored five points for the team in the overall competition, and so we ended up in a four-way tie for 18th place out of 32 teams in the regatta on overall points.”
Reported by Women’s Coach Kalhan Koul:
“Our women’s Varsity 4 had a good showing, placing 5th out of 6 in their heat, but beating five additional crews based on time, for a final placing of 18 out of 24. This is a fairly good result considering we had not practiced that lineup before.
“Our Varsity 8 did not fare as well as the 4, due to a variety of factors, and finished 17 of 17. First, we had two substitutes in the boat, and had to rearrange the usual lineup. According to the girls, the start was shaky and they had to play catch-up from the outset; furthermore, the girls caught several crabs in the duration of the race and they were unable to hit their rhythm. On the bright side, the girls were very much in the race despite everything working against them, and the general consensus was that, had they raced at the level they were practicing at last week, they would have had a dramatically faster time. I am confident that the 8 will be much more competitive in future races. Overall, a good showing and a good step forward.”