HANOVER, N.H. – The Yale lightweights took on Dartmouth Saturday in Hanover and swept all three events. The Durand Cup will go back to the Gilder Boathouse for the 10th consecutive year.
The first varsity race was the final event of the day, capping off a morning that was dominated by Yale. When the Blue and Green 1Vs locked into their stake boats, the Connecticut River was a vessel for speed as a slight tail wind and warm temperatures allowed the oarsmen to have little worry for conditions—a welcomed change from last weekend's racing in Philly. Different conditions but the result was much of the same. The Yale varsity eight got out to a good lead early and expanded it through the 1500 meter mark. It was a decisive win for the Bulldogs as they won by open water.
"That was a fun race. We're glad to be finally back racing the Big Green; those guys are always great competitors. We knew we had to be ready for a complete row," commented senior captain Geoff Skelly after his crew clinched the Durand Cup for the 10th consecutive year.
While the Yale 1V's victory contributed to an already historic streak of Durand Cup victories, it was the Yale 3V who had set the tone earlier in the first race of the morning. The Bulldogs blasted out of the stake boats to an open water lead and kept increasing their margin. When the race concluded, Yale had defeated Dartmouth by some lengths of open water.
The Yale junior varsity followed up the 3V's stellar performance with a commanding victory of their own. Yale overtook Dartmouth on the start, jumping out to a length lead. The Big Green fought back to stall the Bulldogs' advance until the halfway mark, after which Yale took a strong middle move and began to open up their lead. In the end, Yale beat Dartmouth by open water with a comfortable margin.
Below are the official times from this morning.
1V
Yale 5:30.7, Dartmouth 5:39.0
2V
Yale 5:37.4, Dartmouth 5:50.1
3V
Yale 5:42.7, Dartmouth 6:05.6
The Y150 will now look forward to traveling to New Jersey next week for the conclusion of their regular season against longtime rivals Harvard and Princeton for the Goldthwait and Vogel Cups.
