Eight Exeter crews travelled to Lake Quinsigamond in Worcester, MA yesterday to compete against Andover, St. John’s, NMH, Simsbury, Shrewsbury, Boston Latin, and Brookline in their season opener. Strong westerly winds gusted above 25 miles per hour, while temperatures hovered around 50 degrees during the mid-afternoon races. Exeter boats placed  in all events, and finished first in three.

Girls co-captain Catherine Denton ’13 said the crosswind during the race presented a challenge with “large swells” at times. Denton added, “we have had several very windy practices on the Squamscott, so our crews were well prepared and worked together to keep the boat steady.” G1 pulled ahead throughout the race, finishing in first with a 13-second margin. Looking ahead to next weekend, Denton said, “SPS and Kent next weekend are likely to be our biggest competition this season, so we will be working hard in practice to become comfortable moving together.”

Boys co-captain Andrew Rondeau ’13 also noted the crosswind, which led to “many misaligned boats during the first 250 meters.” Fortunately, B1 was able to power through and break away from the pack at the end of the first 500 meters. B2 had a difficult start that was held for an extended period time. Although B2 finished in third place, it was only 2.5 seconds behind first-place Andover. Rondeau says the scrimmages that B1 and B2 had in the past few weeks were “really good practice in racing against other boats.” Next weekend’s races against St. Paul’s and Kent will be “serious competition” for B1 and B2.

Please enjoy the photos below taken from the race. If you have photos you want to share, sign up for a free Flickr account and add the photos to the Exeter Crew photo pool according to the instructions. The tag for this race is “2013invitational“.

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The girls first boat traveled to Henley-on-Thames, England this weekend to compete in the Junior 8+ event of the prestigious Henley Women’s Regatta. Established in 1988 after growing frustration at the lack of women’s events at the Henley Royal Regatta, the Henley Women’s Regatta races the first 1500 meters of the same stretch of the River Thames as the Henley Royal Regatta. All races are “dual” races with only two crews competing at a time, but the bracket is single-elimination with no repechage races or petite finals. The crew of the eight included: coxswain Jessica Michaels ’14, stroke Mimi Reichenbach ’12, 7 Jenny DiPietro ’14, 6 Kerrick Edwards ’14, 5 Catherine Closmore ’12, 4 Forrest Barker ’13, 3 Emily Ball ’13, 2 Cassie Corey ’12, bow Cory Johnson ’13, spare Millie Dethy ’14.

Exeter received a favorable seed in the Junior 8+ event, and did not race until the semifinals against Headington School of Oxford (who had already raced twice). In this semifinal, Exeter rowed the 1500 meter course in 5 minutes and 50 seconds, beating Headington by two lengths (time margins are not reported at Henley). The weather was clearly a factor in this race, as the girls first boat had rowed the same distance at the NEIRA regatta in 5 minutes and 6 seconds less than a month earlier.

Video of the Phillips Exeter vs. Mount St. Joseph final:

Video of the Phillips Exeter vs. Mount St. Joseph final:

In the final, Exeter raced against Mount St. Joseph Academy of Flourtown, Pennsylvania. Mount St. Joseph were favored going into the final, having won at the Stotesbury Cup Regatta. In a photo finish, Exeter triumphed by a mere two feet–equivalent to less than one quarter second.

For their victory, Exeter won the Peabody Cup and received memberships into the Vitrix Henley Women’s Regatta Winners’ Club.

John Reichenbach P’12, who has uploaded nearly 4,000 photos to the Exeter Crew Flickr pool in the last three years, traveled with the team and took many excellent photos, including those featured above. If you have photos you want to share, sign up for a free Flickr account and add the photos to the Exeter Crew photo pool according to the instructions. The tag for this event is “2012hwr“.

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As is tradition, a small ceremony is held at the Saltonstall Boathouse for Exeter Crew seniors before their main graduation exercises on the Academy Lawn. Coaches present Varsity letters, special awards, and other recognitions. Varsity letters were presented to the following, whose names will be added to the complete list:

2012 Boys Letter Winners

2012 Girls Letter Winners

 
This year, the boathouse ceremony also included the christening of the girls first boat shell formerly known as the “King.” It has been christened “Puellae Remis Contendunt MMXI” (Latin for “Girls Compete with Oars 2011”).

Please enjoy the photos below taken from the graduation ceremonies. If you have photos you want to share, sign up for a free Flickr account and add the photos to the Exeter Crew photo pool according to the instructions. The tag for this race is “2012graduation“.

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