Lucas Brown
Connector Conntributor

UMass Lowell’s Rowing club started their two kilometer season with a bang on Saturday, going up against Mass Maritime rowing and the University of Connecticut Rowing at UMass Lowell’s Bellegarde Boathouse. The weather was in favor of a good boat race, with the current markedly faster than usual. The day began over-cast and cloudy, but the sun came out for UMass Lowell’s novice eight man boat, as it was the first to cross the finish line that day.

Eight and four man capacity are standard crew boat sizes. UMass Lowell specializes in “eight boats,” but the second race of the day — the women’s varsity four boats — was definitely not a wash. With UMass Lowell’s two entries taking first and second place against Mass Maritimes boat, UMass Lowell’s lady rowing continued to stay strong, competitive, and distinguished in a very male dominated sport.

The next race, the men’s varsity eight, was where River Hawks rowing showed its specialty. UMass Lowell’s second varsity boat finished a mere second ahead of guests UConn Crew. It was a pull from behind victory for the River Hawks, after UMass Lowell trailed at the 1500 meter mark. The River Hawks first varsity boat however, was less neck and neck, finishing almost twenty seconds ahead of the second varsity boat and guest competitor UConn.

After three consecutive and decisive victories, the novice four boat race went off. UConn Crew came into the match with a much better record with “four boats” and Saturday was no exception. UMass Lowell’s novice boat came in second, but by only 3 seconds, and they handily beat Mass Maritimes’ novices.

However, in the novice fours, UConn rowed hard and took the first win of the day for a visiting team. The last race of the day was the varsity four race, which both UConn and UML had two entries in to Mass Maritime’s one. The tension was high; UMass Lowell hit the water sprinting, but UConn specializes in four boats. As the boats passed the boathouse UConn’s first boat had a decisive lead, but by the finish line UML first boat was neck and neck, and no one in the boat could really tell who won.

UMass Lowell’s second varsity four boat just managed a victory against UConn’s second varsity boat; Mass Maritime brought up the rear again. When the numbers were reviewed later it was shown that UConn Crew had walked away with another win in their area of expertise. It was very close though; UMass Lowell Varsity One was behind by less than a second.

At the end of the day the boat house was full with an atmosphere of competitive satisfaction and sportsmanship. Mass Maritime and UConn Crew did a great job rowing and UMass Lowell was appreciative of them coming out to compete. Even though the UMass Lowell rowing club did not sweep every race, it was an encouraging day.

“We won men’s eight and women’s four and that was our goal,” said Coach Dave Cormier. Obviously UConn Crew was stiff competition in four boat racing, and even then, UMass Lowell Rowing was never more than three seconds behind them. A truly auspicious start to what will be an exciting season for UMass Lowell Crew.