ITHACA, N.Y. -- The Bombers opened the Rowing & Sculling Season by hosting U of Rochester, RIT, Cascadilla Boat Club and the Cornell Rowing Club for a round of sprint racing on our home course. 
 
The racing format of the day has each crew racing a 2k time trial after which they are paired with a crew of similar speed for a head-to-head 1k sprint.  Winners are determined by doubling each crew's 1k time and adding it to their 2k time. Crews get an overall ranking compared with the entire field, and medals are awarded for the top finisher within each boat class. 
 
The Bombers raced athletes in the women's coxed quad (4x+), double (2x), lightweight double (lw2x), single (1x), lightweight single (lw1x) and the pair (2-).  Men's 1x, 2x, and 2- events were also contested between our visiting teams.
 
After the first round of racing, many of our crews had positioned themselves well, but were not yet looking like the favorites.  The 4x+ sat in 2^nd place overall, trailing the CBC men's 1x by fewer than 2 seconds.  IC's 2xs sat at 6th, and 15th, with our faster crew trailing U of R by 6 seconds. The light 2x made an impression placing 12^th overall, nearly 40 seconds ahead of the next crew in their category, and all three Ithaca 1xs - both open and light finished in a tight clump of 6 crews that all covered the course within 11 seconds of each other. The Bomber 2-s, crews with several members new to this tricky boat class, finished well behind strong duos from RIT and U of R, but held their own to place 13^th and 28^th after the time trial.
 
The Bombers got fired up & came back strong in head-to-head racing.  They rowed the shorter sprint with greater aggression, & many were able to improve their positions within their boat classes once the math was done. 
 
In overall results, IC's 4x+ dropped to 3^rd behind the M2- from U of R, but dominated their event, finishing 55seconds ahead of the next crew in their boat class. The crew of Julia DiCostanzo, Lauren Huber, Chris Cox and Bry Mendoza-Arias was coxed by Carly Hanlin.
 
IC's Vahle & Edwards found a faster gear than their U of R counterparts to reverse their earlier margin & walk away with the medals in the 2x.  In the lw2x, IC's Friedlander & Owen improved their position as well, finishing 10^th overall for the lw2x medal. The 2x of Veracka & Chen held their 15th place finish, besting entries from CRC and U of R to land in the middle of the 2x pack. 
 
In the 1x, none of the Bomber entries could hold onto repeat-medalist Emily Rockett from CBC, but they challenged each other well. Lightweight Kate March snatched the medal spot in the lw1x with an 18th place finish, and teammates Meara McCulloch and Alex Catlin finished back to back in 22^nd and 23rd, with sprints that finished .4 seconds apart.
 
In the 2-, the close racing for medals fell between RIT who led after the 2k and U of R who edged out the Tigers for medals by a mere 3 seconds by outsprinting them in the 1k. Both Ithaca entries also improved their position with their 1k - with Stewart & Totin moving from 13^th to 11^th place, and Sagaas and Mamakos upgrading from 28^th to 26th. 
 
Medals in the men's events were awarded to Jensen from CBC in the 1x, U of R in the 2-, and CRC in the 2x.
 
Despite early drizzle, plenty of alumni were in attendance to help host the event & cheer the Bombers down the inlet.  Special thanks go to Dan Robinson who stepped up to help marshal the warm-up area and Becky Robinson who ran the start line crew. 
 
The Bomber Scullers return to action in 2 weeks when they head to Hartford CT for the Head of the Riverfront Regatta.