Radcliffe Rowers Reign

The Radcliffe crews recorded another near-sweep performance on the Charles this weekend against Smith, Dartmouth and Syracuse, as all crews except the third novice outdistanced their opponents by wide margins of open water.

In its final home race of the season, the women's heavyweight boat outpowered Dartmouth (by 10 seconds) and Syracuse (32 seconds), finishing with a time of 6:34. Despite choppy water conditions, Radcliffe overcame crabs and bad strokes to notch the victories.

Co-Captain Joyce Gallagher admitted that the squad lacked finesse in its latest performance but proved that it had the power to "muscle through [the other boats] with sheer guts."

The heavyweights presently boast a perfect record, with decisive victories over Princeton (last year's Eastern Sprint Champion), Cornell and Dartmouth.

The women's JV squad also beat Dartmouth decisively, by a 16 second margin.

The repeated victories for the JV team, which had traditionally been the weakest squad in the program, have provided the crew with "excitement and optimism," notes coxswain Leigh Weiss.

In lightweight action, the first four trounced Wellesley and past nemesis Smith. The four finished 27 seconds ahead of second place Wellesley. The lightweight eight outdistanced Wellesley by 20 seconds in a smooth performance.