"The weather brought different elements to racing, but our performance showed that we have the ability," said Katie Sanderson ’00. "It was exciting to see both eights topped the line with open water on both sides."

Rachael Seevers ’01, the bow of the first varsity eight, commented that the team’s home conditions had prepared the crew for rowing in unfavorable weather.

"The Connecticut River is choppy, and we practiced in it a lot so we were really well trained in dealing with these conditions," she said.

Many of the rowers compared rowing on the Charles last weekend to open-sea rowing.

"The waves were crashing over both sides during warm-up," remarked Julia Matsudaira ’02, who also rowed in the first varsity eight boat. 

"The water was horrible-the worst water I’ve ever raced on in my four years rowing," Sanderson said. "It... made it difficult to maintain our stroke."

Head Coach Beth Emery also seemed pleased with the results of this weekend.

"The athletes handled it very well, and they are a strong crew," she said.

Although the two varsity eight boats were able to prove their might, the two novice races were canceled because of the weather.

The varsity four boat got to race, but lost to Simmons, Radcliff and Boston University.

Emery added that the team’s focus should be on the season, and not just on any one race.

"We learned a lot from the first weekend and have been really successful," she said. "The eights have had two losses and the varsity four hasn’t gotten to race too much, but I’m very pleased with the progression throughout the season."

In a poll by the Collegiate Rowing Association and US Rowing, Wesleyan women’s crew was named sixth of the Division 2-3 schools in the country.

Although the team was undefeated last year, Wesleyan’s women’s crew was off to a rocky start this year, with each boat taking one loss. Sanderson said she has high hopes for the rest of the season, however.

"The more we train the better we’re getting. We’re looking to medal at the Championships," she said.

The team is looking enthusiastically to the rest of the season, with just two more races left before the New England Championships.

"We’re really excited about the rest of the season," Matsudaira added. "We have a really strong team this year and hope to get a good race out of Williams at the ‘little 3’s’ and hopefully even go the NCAAs."

Emery said she anticipates a strong program at the New England Championships.

"We will prove ourselves and see what we can do," she said.