Uncharted territory

"What it takes to win races is the ability to reach inside and pull out something to keep you going -- no, to go faster -- when you have nothing left to give. There's a word for what that takes and the word is not magic; the word is guts." -- unknown

This year's crew season got off to an auspicious start.

In the Class Day Regatta, a traditional intra-squad race, members of each class face off

against each other in the ceremonial start of the competitive season. For as far back as anyone can remember, the seniors of the women's crew had always won. And, of course, they would win again, returning five rowers and the coxswain from last year's NCAA-champion varsity eight.

But in a twist that may have foreshadowed the season, the seniors caught a piece of freshwater seaweed on their rudder and crashed into the side of the Cut, losing the race.

Coming into this season, Washington's women's varsity eight had only lost once in two years, at the San Diego Crew Classic in 2001. Since then, they rattled off two national championships, culminating in an open-water victory over Brown in last year's NCAA finals.

This season, with seven seniors and two juniors in the varsity boat, the 2003 campaign should have been a breeze. However, Cal gave the Huskies a cold splash of reality, defeating the Huskies in a photo finish at the season-opening Crew Classic.

More than a month later, the nightmare returned, and a relatively unheralded Stanford crew knocked off the varsity eight at Pac-10s.

Now, for the first time in three years, the Huskies will not be the No. 1 seed heading into nationals. That honor goes to Stanford, while Harvard comes in one place ahead of third-ranked Washington.

For a crew not accustomed to losing, it's a strange position.

"When you lose more than usual, it really puts things in perspective," said captain Carrie Stasiak, the No. 3 seat on the crew. "Not going onto nationals No. 1; that tells me that, as a whole, the sport of women's rowing is getting more competitive."

No. 4 Princeton fills out the top four. Not listed in that group is Brown, last year's runner-up and another very good Ivy League crew. The field's parity, coupled with a perceived vulnerability of the Washington crew, means that the outcome of the event is anyone's guess.

"I think it's pretty darn wide open," said women's coach Jan Harville. "There are a lot of strong crews and probably any one of them can win it.

"We certainly like to think that we're one of them. The sense that I get from the varsity eight crew is that they are disappointed about losing at Pac-10s, but they are starting to use it as motivation."

In the Class Day Regatta, the seniors didn't have enough time to right their boat and achieve victory. At this year's NCAA championships, they have another chance to show what's been inside them all season -- guts.