Syracuse men’s crew knew the course in Annapolis, Md., would be a rough one. Something they weren’t expecting was the cause of the turbulent waters.

‘We heard this loud engine,’ senior coxswain Chad Taylor said. ‘We looked back and there was this huge fishing boat.’

About 750 meters into the Goes Trophy race among No. 9 Syracuse, Navy and Cornell, a fishing boat came through the course causing a huge wake.

The Orange managed to defeat the wake, Cornell and Navy, as SU finished with a time of 6:04.8 to win the Goes Trophy. Cornell crossed the line second with a time of 6:06.4 but Navy, finishing with a time of 6:14.4, was awarded second place due to a ruling of interference by the Big Red.

The win marks the first time since 1959 SU has retained the Goes Trophy in consecutive years.

The historical feat didn’t come easy. The timing of the fishing boat crossing the course could not have come at a worse time for SU. Cornell, not known for its quick starts, surprisingly took the early lead and was up by as much as a length. The Orange was closing the gap until the wake hit SU’s boat from the right side.

‘Because of the wake, the whole middle 1,000 meters were gone,’ Taylor said. ‘I had to change the game plan on the go. It got a bit frantic for five or six strokes. Cornell got up another half length, but we maintained composure which allowed us to maintain speed.’

The Orange was hit with that wake first, which also meant it was hit the hardest. The wake at the time seemed to affect all three crews. Looking back at the race on tape, J.P. Geise said the wake only hit the Syracuse and Navy boats, which is probably why the Big Red was able to increase its lead during that time.

Following the turbulence, Navy’s crew fell off the pace while Syracuse decided it needed to pick up the pace in order to make up for the lost time. Usually with about 300 meters left in the race, the strategy for most teams, as it is with SU, is to sprint or to go as hard as one can until the finish line.

‘(The wake) really changed what we had to do in our game plan,’ Geise said. ‘We had to start our sprint much earlier than usual.’

Taylor decided to start the sprint with about 500 meters left in the race, 200 meters before the rowers are used to starting it. Although SU may close the gap quicker in the short run, the Orange had to acknowledge the risk that it would still have enough energy in the last couple hundred meters to finish as strong as the Cornell crew.

‘I knew at the 300-meter distance we wouldn’t be able to catch up to Cornell,’ Taylor said. ‘I knew we could do it, we have been working hard all year in practice.’

The move turned out to be the correct one, as the Orange managed to pass the Cornell crew for the win. What’s even more impressive than the pass is the way Syracuse responded to the adversity.

‘I think we’ve practiced it once,’ SU head coach Dave Reischman said. ‘It certainly helps having senior experience. I think Chad saw it coming, warned the crew and coached them threw it.’

Taylor said practicing on Onondaga Lake helps him with these situations where he has to adjust on the fly. The conditions on the lake are always different and unique, which can help him when it comes time to race. But sometimes all the practice in the world can’t prepare you for some things.

‘We knew it would be choppy,’ Geise said. ‘But we didn’t realize there would be a fishing boat. I’ve never had a wake like that.’

Published on April 24, 2007 at 12:00 pm