CHAPEL HILL - A sizable number of sodden Duke rowers and fans focused on their own rivalry with the Tar Heels Saturday morning at North Carolina's University Lake.
North Carolina's own Carolina Dash opened up the spring season for Duke and marked the first meeting of these two teams since the Nov. 12 Rivanna Romp. The Blue Devils split the regatta, losing all three 1,000-meter heats in the novice 8+ and the junior varsity 8+ boats, but sweeping the novice-four and the coveted varsity-eight races.
"It was really exciting to beat them at home," sophomore varsity-eight rower Amelia Booth said. "[The Tar Heels] specialize in the 1,000 meters, and last year we were able to beat them in the fall [but not in the spring]. This year we beat them all over the place."
As the rain poured down on the Blue Devils, Duke adjusted well to the now-familiar 1,000-meter format of University Lake, which is half the length of a normal race. To compensate for the location's size restrictions, the two teams competed in a best-two-out-of-three format to equal a full 2,000-meter
The Blue Devils' varsity had formerly struggled with the shortened race format, since Duke's emphasis on endurance often came up short on the faster sprint course.
But Saturday morning, the Blue Devils changed all that as the team's premier squad poured on the speed to beat the Tar Heels by more than seven seconds in their first heat of the day.
The first varsity-8 heat also proved to be the fastest of the day, which at 3:20.44 was only challenged by the same squad's later times of 3:24.11 and 3:25.35. The Blue Devils then staved off continued attacks by the hard-pulling North Carolina scull to win the next two heats by over five seconds each time.
"Certainly we're disappointed not to win the varsity eight," North Carolina coach Joel Furtek said. "In the varsity eight, we didn't have the explosive power off the start that we needed to have to beat a very strong crew like Duke."
The Blue Devils began the day strongly with a quick novice 4+ win over the Tar Heels; Duke was the only team in that race to finish in under four minutes. It was all or nothing Saturday as the team that won the first heat went on to win them all as Duke dominated the novice fours and the varsity 8+, but fell short in all three of the novice and junior varsity-8 heats.
"I feel mixed about the results," coach Robyn Horner said. "The varsity showed the most composure and poise overall, while the junior varsity's last race was their best of the day. The freshman and junior varsity needed to get solid power application in their races and they were just outpowered by Carolina."
No matter how sweet it was to beat Carolina, Horner saw the regatta not just as a long-awaited varsity-8 victory. She also viewed it as an indicator of what the team needs to improve on to continually compete on the same level as the rest of its competition.
"[This regatta] was so early that it's not only good competition but also a good way to take a look at where we're at," Horner said.
The Blue Devils will continue regatta action against Louisville and Wisconsin March 17 at Lake Melton in Oak Ridge, Tenn.
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