Last Sunday the Dartmouth lights turned out their best performance at the Eastern Sprints in five years. All five boats competed in grand finals events, and four of the five outperformed their seeds. The second freshman eight in particular raced an impressive final, placing second just 1.5 seconds behind Navy. The first freshman eight also beat Harvard in their morning heat, shutting the 1F crimson out of the Grand Finals later that day. Nice.

The first varsity put together two very fast pieces on Sunday, the latter earning a silver medal and a bid to the IRA championship in Camden, New Jersey. An aggressive sprint in the finals propelled the crew from their battle for third place with Princeton to a barely a seat ahead of the Yale crew - just over a tenth of a second - and less than 1.5 seconds behind Harvard.

The buzz created by the 1V’s finish was at least as gratifying as the medal that came with it. Yes, it took an entire season, but it seems that the league is finally paying attention to Dartmouth. In his recap of the day’s lightweight events, John Flynn of [row2k.com](http://row2k.com/earc/features.cfm?ID=310 took a break from praising Harvard to give our coach, Dan Roock, some well-deserved attention:

"Dartmouth’s silver in the lightweight eight capped a remarkable day for the Big Green and suggests there is more to come. As one knowledgeable race fan put it, “Dan Roock is back,” and that is certainly a factor: just two years in, Coach Roock is well on his way to creating his third contender in as many schools, a feat all the more remarkable when one considers that he is one of the only coaches to have had head coach success in the Sprints league with women (Princeton), heavyweights (Cornell) and now a lightweight squad in Hanover."

What do I remember about the day? As is typical for me during bouts of extreme anxiety and focus, I ironically remember only bits and pieces: the last push through Princeton during the morning heat; telling Nate Potter to vomit on the other side of the boat afterwards so our parents wouldn’t see (sorry Nate); striking forty-seven strokes per minute at the start of the grands; pulling up to that medal dock and seeing the smile on our coxswain, Brian’s face; and getting absolutely soaked in torrential rain less than ten minutes after strapping the boat down to leave.

And then there was that moment when I got back to campus that night and opened up my blitz, and I saw that, contrary to what I might have previously believed, people actually HAD been watching.

To all the friends and family of Dartmouth rowing, thanks for all your support this year. Only one more dance, and then we’re done - at least for a little while. Camden, here we come.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7u5AjEqocsM&feature=player_embedded