After half a year of watching their varsity rower teammates grab the headlines and the attention, the novices finally decided to take matters into their own hands.
Coming off a strong performance at last weekend's ACC Championships, the Blue Devil novice rowers paced a Duke squad with its eyes set on the NCAA qualifiers, picking up a pair of first-place finishes in the 4+ and 8+ races in the Double Duals this weekend.
And for a team whose explicit goal is not victories, but simply "to get better every race to prepare for NCAAs," as junior Eily Hayes said a week ago, the novices' victory, since they see less water time, was even more gratifying.
"The [novices] are gaining confidence with each race," novices coach Shannon Daley said.
The confidences of the morning gave way to the frustrations of the afternoon.
As the winds picked up and began to swirl, the calm rowing conditions of the morning were lost, making the course more difficult. Rain added to the afternoon misery, and for the less-experienced novices, it proved to be a disastrous combination.
The afternoon races belonged to Georgetown, who outmaneuvered both Duke and George Washington, the other entrant in the weekend regatta.
But disappointment for the day soon gave way to optimism for the season.
"After such an exciting morning, I think the focus changed to [trying to] go for the win again rather than how we planned to execute the win," Daley said. "We're going to remember that for next weekend."
Next weekend's UNC Cup Race will mark the final chance for the varsity eight boat to work out its kinks before the NCAA Central Region Qualifiers. The exposure to top-flight teams like those the Blue Devils saw this weekend and will see again in the UNC Cup Race is, according to head coach Robyn Horner, the key element for improvement.
"We are going against teams that are legitimately going after an NCAA bid," Horner said. "With each race we are learning more and more about ourselves and what it's going to take."
The problem that plagued the Blue Devils in the varsity 8+ was a familiar one-a slow finish. After holding close to George Washington for the first 1000 meters, the Colonials stretched open a lead over the home stretch. Both George Washington entries in the 8+ race passed the Blue Devils, as Duke passed the finish line in third place.
The Colonials' winning time was 6:22.6, and the Blue Devils finished 11.2 seconds later.
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