After an up-and-down fall season, the Wesleyan men’s crew team has begun the spring season capturing first place in five of their six meets, giving them an overall record of 11–1. This strong campaign has propelled them to a second overall national ranking. On March 18, the team started off their spring season down in Florida at Rollins College where their varsity 8 boat consisting of coxswain Asher Israel ’26, captain Joe Kagan ’23, Chris Saade ’25, captain Oliver Diamond ’23, Emmett Nunes ’23, Nelson Bellows ’26, Paul Kiyonaga ’25, Brett Beaman ’26, and Pierce Buckner-Wolfson ’26 captured a decisive victory with a margin of over 10 seconds. 

Kagan credits their unprecedented level of training in the winter season to their initial success.

“We have a meter sheet where we record all the work that we do over the winter, to keep everyone collectively accountable,” Kagan said. “And we just saw unprecedented participation in the meter sheet. Guys were just doing way more work than in past years when I was on this team.”

The team then went to New London on April 4, where they faced the United States Coast Guard Academy in a head-to-head race. All four of the Cardinals boats finished ahead of the Coast Guards’, with each of the boats finishing in under six minutes. Bellows attributes the strong start to the chemistry within the boat. 

“Mentally the winter was tough because you’re just doing one thing over and over again, inside,” Bellows said. “But how you counter that is bonding as a team. And I think this winter, we worked really hard. And as a team, we got a lot closer. And I think that’s probably the reason we have had so much success.”

On April 8, the Cardinals then traveled to Lake Quinsigamond in Worcester, MA which was hosted by No. 4 ranked Worcester Polytechnic Institute. The Red and Black continued their success, capturing the Class of 2003 title for only the second time in the last six seasons. The 2nd varsity 8, which consisted of coxswain Leo Rosenblum ’24, Max Ewing ’24, Hugo Harington ’25, Eli Smirin ’26, Freddie Bell ’25, Kiran Kling ’24, Eli Kooistra ’25, Oliver Saffery ’23, and Cory Reavy ’26, put on a strong showing, winning their competition with a time of 6:14.4 which was faster than Hamilton College, University of Massachusetts Amherst, and Colby College’s varsity boats. 

Following the triumph in Worcester, the Cardinals returned to Massachusetts on April 15, this time to compete against Tufts University, Bates College, and UMass. Kagan spoke on the importance of the meet for the team given the stiffer competition they expect to face later in the year.

“I was speaking with Oliver Diamond at the beginning of the year and we agreed we don’t know where we’ll stack up against Williams, they’re really quick, but if we can beat Trinity, Tufts, or Bates, we will be happy,” Kagan said. 

The Red and Black did just that, finishing in 5:47.2 to defeat #2 ranked Tufts and advance to the finals where they beat Bates with another sub-six minute performance of 5:51.1. This extended the Cardinals streak of first place finishes to four, marking the third longest streak of first place finishes in program history. The two seasons that produced longer streams (2018-2019 and 2006-07) resulted in a first and second place finish respectively in NESCAC’s. Bellows mentioned the magnitude of this victory for the team’s confidence.

“And that race was kind of an example of, okay, we’re doing well and we can not only compete with these guys but beat them,” Bellows said. “And to me, it was nice to finally see all of the hard work culminate.”

Fresh off this victory the Cardinals faced their toughest task taking on Williams in the Little Three Championship on April 22. It was a matchup that featured the two top ranked boats in division three. The Red and Black ultimately fell short, but the team was not demoralized. 

“Despite the loss it was exciting being an underdog with a group of guys that I really enjoy spending time with,” Bellows said.

Kagan shared that the team learned from the loss but did not supply specifics as the team hopes to keep their strategy private for now. 

“We discussed the race afterwards with our coach and he was telling us, you guys are there, stroke for stroke with them,” Kagan said. “And so for us, we’re thinking, what are the small adjustments that we can make so that we are competitive with them every stroke along the way, because there was no definitive moment within that race where they pulled away. And so I think, for us, it’s just about kind of correcting that.” 

The Cardinals were not deterred by this setback and rebounded the following weekend, placing first in a meet with University of Connecticut, Connecticut College, and No. 4 ranked Trinity College. This wrapped up an incredible 11–1 regular season for the Cardinals. Kagan spoke on how special this year has been, considering the struggles the team has dealt with in prior years.

“Last year, I think we really felt we weren’t there as a program,” Kagan said. And I think this year is the year that we can see the potential of the program and the success of it. So we now have a roster of 40 plus people, a combination of recruited athletes and walk-ons which has been so crucial for the success of this team.” 

The Cardinals now turn their attention to the trio of championship races that begins with the New England Championships this upcoming Saturday, May 6, at Lake Quinsigamond. The team will then return to Quinsigamond the following Friday for the National Invitational Rowing Championships. A three week layoff will then ensue before the Cardinals wrap up their season with the IRA National Division III Championship Regatta which will take place from June 2nd–June 4th. Kagan spoke about the team’s expectations going into the final month of the season.

“We feel like we can make a run for medal spots and, hopefully, first place finishes,” Kagan said. “And [at] a lot of these races, the desire is always to focus on those that are in our conference. One of the awesome features of racing the NESCAC is that everyone’s pretty tight: we’re five seconds off Williams, and Tufts is five seconds off us. So it will be super competitive and anyone can win on any given day. So I think our goal is really just to make it our day, for three consecutive weekends.”

Sam Weitzman-Kurker can be reached sweitzmankur@wesleyan.edu.