The Black and White gradually inched farther and farther ahead of the Tigers, gaining distance seat-by-seat until it pushed ahead by a length.
“When Lauren Sheerr, our coxswain, told us she was on Princeton’s bow ball, I think we all knew we had the race,” Bothwell said.
Wisconsin made a furious sprint to the finish, eventually passing the Tigers as well.
Radcliffe crossed the line in 6:38.60, beating the Badgers by nearly three seconds and Princeton by three and a half and setting a course record for the event.
“It was some of the best racing I think our boat has ever done,” Bothwell said.
The victory was the lights’ first Sprints title since 1997, and 10th overall. Four weeks later, though, at the IRAs, the Badgers tore through their preliminary heat, torching Princeton by nearly eight seconds, then dashed past the Tigers and the Black and White in the Grand Final.
—Staff writer J. Patrick Coyne can be reached at coyne@fas.harvard.edu.