1999 Results
7-0 overall, 5-0 Ivy
4/3 1. PRINCETON 5:43.30 2. Georgetown 5:53.20 4/10 1. Princeton 6:22.80 2. CORNELL 6:31.30 3. Rutgers 6:35.00 4/17 1. Princeton 6:19.60 2. PENN 6:33.10 3. Navy 6:42.10 4/24 1. Princeton 6:20.00 2. HARVARD 6:24.55 3. Yale 6:25.55 5/9 EARC Regatta # Grand Final 1. Princeton 5:50.40 2. Columbia 5:52.12 3. Harvard 5:52.83 4. Rutgers 5:54.46 5. Yale 5:55.53 6. Georgetown 6:03.10 5/29 IRA Regatta $ Grand Final 1. Harvard 5:39.70 2. Rutgers 5:41.70 3. Dartmouth 5:42.10 4. Yale 5:42.60 5. Columbia 5:46.10 6. Princeton 5:47.70
# at Worcester, Mass.
$ at Camden, N.J.
Highlights
• Princeton recorded its
second consecutive undefeated season (7-0).
• The Tigers won the EARC championship for the
second straight year. The victory, Princeton's 12th overall,
also brought the 1999 Ivy League crown to Old Nassau.
• Princeton's second and third varsity boats followed the
lead of the first varsity boat, also producing undefeated records
in dual regatta competition.
The old saying goes, "One bad apple can spoil a whole bunch." For the 1999 men's lightweight crew team, there were plenty of shiny red apples this season, but a sixth place finish in the national championship race left a bitter taste.
After sailing through another undefeated season and picking up their 12th overall Eastern Sprints championship, the defending national champion Tigers could not pull a repeat performance on the Cooper River in Camden. Princeton is still one of the premier lightweight programs in the country, and this season only reinforced that fact.
The Tigers first and only home regatta of the year saw the varsity eight take a 10-second advantage across the finish line in the first of a three-race sweep over Georgetown. With a slight tailwind on the flat water
of Lake Carnegie, the Tigers won with a time of
5:43.3. Princeton then took to the highway for a regatta
in Ithaca against Cornell and Rutgers. The Tigers
finished in a time of 6:22.8, 8.5 seconds ahead of the Scarlet Knights and 13 seconds ahead of the Big Red. The Tigers swept all five races, including both freshman events.
Battling rough waters and a strong headwind on the Schuylkill River in
Philadelphia, Princeton easily sailed to victory over the host Quakers and the Midshipmen from the Naval Academy in a time of 6:19.6. The Orange and Black won all three varsity races by at least 13 seconds and took the victory in the first freshman race.
In the biggest lightweight race of the season, Princeton edged the Crimson
by four and a half seconds to win its third Goldthwait Cup in four years. Yale took third in the annual H-Y-P, trailing Harvard by one second. With all three first varsity boats coming into the race with undefeated marks, the Tigers left Cambridge without a blemish. Princeton entered the race with a No. 1 ranking in the USRowing poll, with Harvard second and Yale fourth.
With a 7-0 record in the dual competition, the Tigers had their sights on
defending their Eastern Association of Rowing Colleges Sprints title. Princeton proved why it was the defending national champion and the lightweights combined with the heavyweights to sweep six of six varsity races for back-to-back championships. Princeton edged Columbia by less
than two seconds for the win in a time of 5:42.50. The Tigers took third in the fresh man lightweight event.
Princeton traveled to the prestigious waters of the Cooper River in Camden
for the annual IRA championship regatta and a chance to defend its 1998 title. The Tigers finished second to Dartmouth in the trial heats to advance to the grand final. Top ranked and a possible favorite, the Tigers finished a disappointing sixth with a time of 5:47.70.
Ivy member Harvard won the event in 5:39.7. Princeton held the third position at the 1000-meter mark, but could not make up ground down the stretch.
