Change of boats pays dividends at Head of the Fish

The Williams varsity women’s crew, NCAA champions for the past two years, approached Sunday’s Head of the Fish Regatta in Saratoga as an opportunity to continue to develop their program at all levels. “The challenge we face at the Fish is more psychological than physiological,” women’s varsity coach Justin Moore said.

“On the heels of the Head of the Charles, the gem of the fall rowing season, it is difficult to maintain the motivation to perform at one’s peak.” As a result, Moore decided to embrace the two poles of his varsity team: strong senior leadership, and ambitious younger oarswomen. After the high-tension weekend of the Head of the Charles, the women’s varsity opted to boat its whole senior class together in the first varsity eight. Comprised solely of seniors, all of whom had rowed all four years at Williams, and led by senior Nisi Zhang, a varsity oarswoman drafted into coxing this season due to personnel shortage, the first eight raced to a solid second place, behind the University of Massachusetts.

Coach Moore explained his approach: the priority for the day, he said, was on exposing younger oarswomen to racing situations, and “[stepping] back from the varsity team, creating a space where women could step forward as team leaders.” Senior captains Abby Weir and Louisa Berky led their teammates to strong finishes throughout the day, not only in the first eight but also the 2V and in fours racing. The 2V, comprised of mainly of sophomores and juniors, many of whom raced in the 1V at the Head of the Charles, led the charge to a first place finish in the day’s JV race.

The women’s varsity fours races preceding that highlighted the depth of the women’s varsity program. Finishing their two fours in third and seventh place ahead of programs like Little Three rival Wesleyan demonstrated that even when taking a relaxed approach to a regatta and using it as a means to develop rising talent within the program, the women’s varsity can still achieve strong results. “Our approach to the Fish this year was to expose many of our younger athletes to multiple racing situations,” Coach Moore said. “A the end off the day I was very pleased with how all parties responded to the challenges that were presented. Our younger athletes raced competitively and our senior athletes provided energy and effective leadership from 5:30 a.m. throughout the day.”