It's not that Katherine Peterson didn't believe her coach. It's not that she didn't have faith in her team. But before Saturday's season-opening regatta, Peterson found it difficult to believe that Duke truly could be competitive against top varsity crew teams in the first month of its inaugural season.
After the Blue Devils overcame a mid-race collision to finish 19th in a field of 74 boats and beat rowing mainstays Tennessee and Minnesota, Duke's co-captain is having little trouble believing what her team can do now.
"I'm very pleased, the whole team is pleased," Peterson said. "It wasn't perfect, but it's a good solid start to the season. Our goal was to get top 10, which we didn't do, but we still did better than we would have this time last year. We crashed in the middle which obviously slowed us down, but we're still very pleased with our performance."
A top-10 finish might have been in the cards for the Blue Devils, but opposing boats turned out to have as much say in Duke's finish as its own efforts did.
As the Blue Devils approached a bridge midway through the race and attempted to overtake a slower boat, an opposing coxswain overcompensated on a turn, resulting in a collision that momentarily stalled both boats.
"The slower boat has to yield and give the faster boat the inside turn," Peterson said. "[Coxswain Tonya Lippard] called us down to a paddle to let them go through first, but we still caught up to them and the other team had to go through first. The other boat steered too wide, and into our boat.... It was frustrating, but it happens to a lot of teams, not uncommon on the Charles."
The highlight of the race for Duke was the stretch run. Racing side-by-side with another varsity 8+ over the final half mile, the Blue Devils got a taste of the style of competition they can expect in the spring.
"The end of the race was by far the best part," Peterson said. "We came out of the last turn with the last stretch in front of us. We were going head-to-head with the boat next to us. It was an amazing part, hearing the other coxswain calling last strokes at two minutes, the whole crowd was yelling for us, being able to sprint it out at the end."
With the most difficult part of their schedule behind them, and two regional meets-the Head of the Tennessee and the Head of the Chattahochee-finishing out the fall season, the Blue Devils are already looking for medal performances.
"We have more confidence now," Peterson said. "We know we can compete with the best teams. In the next races we will be more aggressive, now with the first race out of the way.
"This was by far the biggest race, and it's difficult to have it first, but we know the competition will never be tougher. The fact that we placed so well here encourages us. We'll probably have fewer problems in the next races. We'll definitely place better."
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