The River Round Up

BOSTON UNIVERSITY

Rodney Pratt, head coach of the B.U. men's heavyweight crew, comments on his program saying, "Being a coach, you realize you're not in control of everything--it's all an illusion. I would like to beat everybody but I don't think we have a chance to beat the national teams with such a young boat." Pratt is racing a championship eight and four and some club boats, and is unsure about the preparation of his boat. Captain Rob Rogers is excited to have "big guys this year" because last year they had four lightweights in the boat. "We want to go out and have a good showing," says Rogers. "But there are a lot of national teams." The women's heavyweights are a "team in the works" according to head coach Holly Hatton. "It's been quite an interesting ride. Without a boathouse last year, we cut the entire freshman team. It's still a question how it's going to affect the varsity." She's looking for a solid performance for the women, "but nothing in the A group." Unfortunately, key members of the boat are taking the semester abroad. Hatton coxed for the 1980 Olympic boat and is eager to have her B.U. women beat her old boat in the race. "I want to see us in the top 10 or 15," she says, "but I know that's tough. If we have a good row, we're capable."

MIT

With only one senior on the boat, MIT's men's championship eight is a fairly young team. Head coach Gordon Hamilton decides the members of his boats through ergometer testing, and puts his crew on the machines frequently. "We have absolutely no chance of winning," he says. "I hope we can beat a couple of the crews who beat us last year. We just barely lost to Cornell and Dartmouth last year and I'd like to beat B.U., Columbia and Rutgers." The women's coach, Susan Lindholn, has been pushing her regimen hard. She too does not see MIT positioned for gold.

NORTHEASTERN

Head Coach Buzz Congram has four goals for the men's program: to beat Harvard, Yale, Princeton and Penn. With a young team expected to start fourth or sixth, "we're looking to test ourselves and have a really great row." The two juniors, five seniors and senior captain Gracio Garcia make up "by far one of the strongest boats I've rowed in," according to Garcia. Congram is hoping to train his young champ four of one junior and three sophomores for future victories, and he looks forward to the Head of the Charles "to compete with the international rowers." The women's program, coached by Joe Wilhelm, are also a fairly young team with superb athletic talent. The champ eight has four returning varsity rowers, but Wilhelm feels wary about his young team: "inexperience can lead to inconsistency." However, the novice crew was 8 and 2 last year, with talent that bodes well for the future. "It's great to have a regatta this size in our own back yard," says Wilhelm. But as to winning the regatta, he says, "with crew, you never know."

--Frances G. Tilney