ITHACA – While on water, Jakob Anderson doesn’t hear anything other than the swooshing sound of his and his teammates’ oars hitting the water. Yet on land, the Cayuga Lake Inlet exploded with noise.

As screaming parents and fans cheered on the seven teams competing Saturday from the shoreline, referees called out instructions on megaphones from their own nearby boats and each boat’s coxswain shouted commands from the sterns of their own boats.

From the shoreline, the sound of the rowers’ oars slapping the water can still be heard above the rushing wind and cheering crowd.

“You don’t hear much,” senior Andrew Cummings said. “It’s mostly sights.”

Syracuse men’s and women’s rowing concluded its fall racing season in the Cornell Autumn Classic on Saturday in Ithaca. The Orange’s competitive championship season isn’t until the spring, but they’ve had three tune-up events to compete with other schools and find their best lineup. The women’s and men’s teams won four of the six races they each raced in. Syracuse now heads into the winter season to prepare for next May’s ACC and NCAA Championships and other meets.

“I think I was just happy to see a sea of orange jerseys out there that were all racing hard and representing us well,” men’s assistant coach Jason Elefant said. “Results today were overwhelmingly positive, but we can’t let that be the end-all of the season. So, the biggest thing is just getting back to work and having good quality practices from now until the spring.”

Molly Gibbs | Senior Staff Photographer

The Orange women’s team, who finished second in the ACC in 2017 and 2018, and third in 2019, usually practice on Onondaga Lake early in the morning or in the afternoon. The women compete in the NCAA, while the men are in the Intercollegiate Rowing Association.

Women’s coach Luke McGee said the priority on Saturday wasn’t necessarily the results, but to focus on the four races — which feature four rowers and a coxswain — and build internal competitiveness.

McGee said the team has been mixing the boats up during practice after a couple of weeks when they were separated into top lineups. McGee added that the Orange “didn’t have a chance to row the lineups” until Saturday’s race.

On Saturday, in the second flight of the women’s W8+ race, Syracuse’s B team finished ahead of the A team, and second overall with a 9:57.6 time, two tenths of a second faster than the A team in third.

“I think it’s easier in these longer races to fall into a slump,” sophomore Ellen Pozzi said.

The men’s varsity fours boat placed first in their 3k race, finishing with a time of 9:18.3. The men’s B, C and D teams finished third, fourth and fifth in the same race. Later, the Orange’s four-man boats also took the top four places in the 300m sprint.

“There’s so much training that’s done kind of away from it all,” McGee said, “so it’s actually really exciting and fun to have a chance to go out and have some other people kind of watch what you’re doing and there to support you.”

Molly Gibbs | Senior Staff Photographer

Anderson said that including structured time trials every Wednesday in practice has helped the team build a competitive mindset with one another. It provides a chance for the team, especially the freshmen, to get closer to moving up into the A group earlier on in the season.

Last year, Anderson said the team lacked “internal racing mentality” until late in the season, and the simulated races have helped prevent that this season.

In the second flight, the men’s V8+ A team placed first with a time of 8:26.3. The men’s V8+ A and B units then took the top two spots in the 300m sprint. Syracuse’s A team finished in 48.3 seconds, and the B team finished in 49.2 seconds.

The women’s V4+ A boat comprised of four racers and a coxswain finished first in the 3k in the spring, while the eight-person varsity boat also won both the long and short-distance competitions.

As opposed to the Orange’s last competition in Boston in the 2019 Head of the Charles Regatta, the Orange focused more on speed than steering. The Head of the Charles race was three miles in length and required heavier steering to maneuver the boats along the river’s course, while Saturday was less than two miles and straight.

“This is a fairly drama free course and more a test of speed than steering skills,” Elefant said. “It gave the guys a chance to really just lay it out there over a shorter distance which was good.”

Molly Gibbs | Senior Staff Photographer

Syracuse has now tested itself in short and long distance, on straight and winding paths. Now, Elefant said it’s open to the individuals to improve their fitness through the winter.

He said preparation for the spring season is heavily dependent on how much work the men decide to do individually while they’re away from the team over the winter holiday. The men’s team will also prepare for the spring season through training camps and put in miles on the machines indoors.

“It’s going to be you and the machine and you’re trying to get personal bests,” McGee said. “But at the same point, it’s also trying to push that person next to you.”

While each person is individually competing with one another to get stronger and improve their form for the spots in the best boats, Cummings said that the sport’s team element has drawn him in.

“Not only perfecting your technique, but getting eight guys to row perfectly synchronized,” Cummings said. “Just perfecting your art.”

Published on November 4, 2019 at 1:24 am