This past weekend, all three of Columbia’s rowing teams were in action simultaneously for the first time since spring break. The men’s heavyweight team fared the best, defeating MIT and Holy Cross in all three of its races at the Alumni Cup at home, while the lightweight and women’s teams finished with mixed results in races on Lake Carnegie in Princeton.

For the past two weeks, the men’s heavyweight rowing team has enjoyed the home water in its races, and finished first in all six events in which it participated. This weekend, the Alumni Cup brought MIT and Holy Cross to New York, and the Lions were able to stave off both opposing crews, winning each of the races by less than 15 seconds.

The Varsity Eights race, though close by all standards, featured the Light Blue’s largest margin of victory on the day, as it defeated MIT by 13.3 seconds and Holy Cross by 15.2 seconds. Things grew a little closer in the Second Varsity race, which only featured crews from Columbia and Holy Cross. The Lions were able to top the Crusaders by 10.2 seconds, which put the onus on the Freshman Eights to complete the sweep for Columbia.

MIT rejoined the fray for the Freshman Eights and pushed the Lions to the limit. The two teams went stroke for stroke throughout the race, but in the end, the Light Blue was able to eke out a victory by a mere two seconds, securing a three-race sweep of the Alumni Cup.

The men’s lightweight team had almost opposite results as its heavyweight counterpart. In the Fosburgh Cup Regatta against Princeton and Georgetown, the Lions took second place in the Varsity Eights, fourth in the Second Varsity Eights, and third in the Freshman Eights.

Facing Princeton, one of the top men’s lightweight crews, Columbia was able to keep up but not for the whole race, as it finished in second by 9.8 seconds. However, the Lions were able to hold off Georgetown, finishing ahead of the Hoyas by 2.7 seconds. The Second Varsity Eights finished behind Princeton’s and Georgetown’s second varsity crews as well as Princeton’s third varsity crew, taking fourth in its race. Though the Freshman Eights race was close, the Lions did not figure into its closeness, finishing 12.4 seconds behind first-place Princeton and 8.9 seconds behind Georgetown.

In the same lake as the men’s lightweight team, but against different competition, the women’s rowing team turned in competitive performances against Princeton and Rutgers. The First and Second Varsity Eights turned in the strongest performances of the day, as they both finished second in a pool of three boats.

After leaving Rutgers in its wake in the Varsity Eights race, the Lions focused on catching the elusive Princeton crew mere meters ahead of them. The chase was close throughout the race, but the Tigers were able to outsprint the Lions at the end, finishing 5.7 seconds ahead of them.

In the Second Varsity Eights race, Princeton pulled ahead quickly, leaving Columbia and Rutgers to clash for second place, a race which the Lions ‘won’, finishing 25.2 seconds behind the Tigers, but 9.8 seconds ahead of the Scarlet Knights. This would be the last of Columbia’s high finishes for the day, as the Novice Eights finished in third, 46.1 seconds off the pace, and the Varsity Fours finished second out of two boats, 23.8 seconds behind Princeton.

This coming weekend, all three rowing teams will be in action in races all along the East Coast. The men’s heavyweights will be in Philadelphia, taking on Penn and Princeton in the Childs Cup, the men’s lightweights will be at home in the Wit Cup against Navy and Rutgers, and the women will be in Charlottesville, Va. at the Virginia Invitational.