PHOTO AND WORDS; BRIAN JOHNSON (DAD OF Capt. DEREK JOHNSON (2011), YALE HEAVYWEIGHT MEN’S ‘VARSITY’ CREW)

YALE v BROWN ;Let the battle begin…
“For those who weren't there, you missed a good day of racing on the chilly Seekonk River.  The 4V/2F (Fourth Varsity/Second Freshmen), 3rd Varsity, and Junior Varsity all won handily, demonstrating the developing depth of the program.  The Freshmen got smoked at the start, falling behind by open water, before battling back to lose by a second, about 1/3 of a boat length, meaning that for the majority of the race they beat Brown.  The Varsity also fell behind at the start, having not worked on starts or speed work until this past week, but battled back to be ahead by 2 seats with 500 meters to go before losing by about 2 seats, 0.4 seconds.  Our guys also hadn't yet worked on sprints at the end of races, either.  All part of the building plan.

Meaning, Yale missed sweeping perennial Eastern powerhouse Brown by just 1.4 seconds.  Altogether a more than promising debut for what I'd consider the Beta version of Yale Heavyweight Crew 2011, getting the bugs out, building the foundation for the more important races later in the season, when they'll have plenty of speed work and starts and sprints under their belts.  

There's a lot of learning that goes with a new coaching team, a new rowing style, but as the Brown races showed, the rowers and coxswains are learning fast.  I think their progress, now that they're back on the water full time after the winter indoor work, will be rapid and consequential.” BRIAN JOHNSON (1971; 7 SEAT IN THE US EIGHT)