The Columbia crew teams are returning from their Florida spring break with tans and triumphs. Competing in the Governor’s Cup Regatta, both the men and the women garnered substantial wins to make a notable spring season debut.

On the men’s side, both the heavyweight and lightweight teams worked to take down Florida Institute of Technology, the meet’s host, and Rollins in at least one event. The two Lions squads defeated FIT and Rollins in the novice eights. In the varsity and second varsity eights, the teams took the top two spots, with the heavyweights coming in before the lightweights. The men, however, fell to Rollins in the varsity fours.

The women’s team faced a larger group of competitors at the Governor’s Cup, taking on Dowling, Rollins, Barry, FIT, Charleston, and Nova Southeastern. The Lions’ first varsity eight dominated its races, taking down Dowling and Rollins in a morning race, and Barry and Dowling once more in an afternoon contest. The second varsity group defeated Barry, FIT, Nova, and Rollins in two races spread out over the course of the competition. The varsity fours team took down Dowling and Nova. The novice boat did not fare as well as its varsity counterparts, coming in behind Nova and Charleston in a morning race and falling to FIT, but defeating Charleston in an afternoon eight. Yet given that the novice rowers faced off against their opponents’ varsity squads, the Lions fared relatively well.

The Light Blue teams will move to open their Eastern Association of Rowing Colleges (EARC) seasons in the next few weeks. The men’s heavyweights will race against Rutgers at the Collins Cup this upcoming Saturday to begin conference competition, while the lightweights open in two weeks against Princeton and Georgetown. The women’s team, competing in the Connell Cup against Penn and Yale, will start its league season this Saturday.