"Princeton is good," Constable said, "but we have big rowers. I have to say we are very strong."

Constable herself is out for the season with a back injury, and is joined on the injured list by senior Carrie Edwards. Edwards, recovering from knee surgery, is currently rowing on the JV squad.

"Carrie is normally our stroke," Constable said. "She will make a difference if she can come back."

Without Edwards, Coach Liz O'Leary's current lineup looks like this: junior Rachel Lerner at stroke, followed by senior and Acting Captain Kristi Stoddard, junior Meg Brooks, sophomore Tilde Hajek, junior Sasha Foster, senior Wendy Svatek, senior Rachel Greene and Kathryn Patton in bow.

The prospects for a national championships are good, put Constable cautioned against high expectations.

"Ultimately, we hope to win, but that's not a prerequisite for a sucessful season," she said. "We just want to row our best."

The Lightweights

Men's Coach Charlie Butt, the defending national lightweight champion, doesn't like the phrase, "favored to repeat."

"No, we're not favored to repeat," Butt said. "You can never tell what's going to happen. Things haven't shaken out yet."

But with five returning oarsmen, the chances look good. Butt admits as much.

"We have a good boat, a very strong boat," he said. "But we have to work to win."

Princeton and Yale are expected to be the major competition.

The Radcliffe lightweight team's future is looking equally rosy, according to senior Captain Karen Lane.

"We're looking pretty fast," Lane said. "We haven't been on the water for long, but we have a good attitude."

The lightweights, who row in fours, are anchored by three senior rowers: Ginny Marston at stroke, Lane in the three seat and Julie Wong in the two seat.