The Duke rowing team had a strong showing this weekend at the Rivanna Romp regatta in Charlottesville, Va., winning the doubles, pairs and novice eight events. The Blue Devils also claimed third in the quad competition and fourth in the varsity eight race in their last fall meet.
“I think it was a really solid race,” junior coxswain Sarah Shapiro said of the varsity eight event. “This puts us in a good spot for the spring.”
Ohio State won the varsity eight event for the fourth year in a row, with host Virginia and Tennessee coming in second and third, respectively. The Blue Devils executed their strategy and were pleased with their fourth-place finish against the strong field.
“It was a short race so we wanted to get off really strong and fast, and we did a good job of that,” Shapiro said. “I thought we stayed very consistent and finished up strong.”
The Duke varsity also performed well in the small boat races. The Blue Devils took first and second in the doubles event; first, fourth and sixth in the pairs event; and third and fourth in the quad event. The crew of sophomore Emma Darling and freshman Lia Hart won the doubles race, and the pair of sophomore Amber Straight and senior Natalie Zervas won the pairs competition.
“We have done a lot of small boat work, and it was great to show that this weekend,” Shapiro said.
Duke won the novice eight competition, showing promise for the rowing team’s future. The Blue Devils have 12 freshmen on the squad, compared to only seven seniors.
Duke does not race again until March, leaving a lot of time for training and improvement. The Blue Devils have progressed in terms of their cohesiveness, but they hope to increase their strength to make the jump to the next level of competitiveness.
“A lot of our fall training has had a technical focus as far as moving together,” Shapiro said. “The winter will be focused on adding speed and power to our technical base.”
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