Radcliffe heavyweight crew took to the water for the first time in competition, running five close races with defending NCAA champion Brown on the Seekonk River in Providence on Saturday.

In the headline race, the first varsity eight, a malfunction deprived the race of official times, but the No. 11 Bears pulled across with a four-seat margin, ahead of the No. 13 Black and White. The first novice eight impressed in the first race of the day, holding off the rowers on home waters, seizing an early lead by as much as two seats before ultimately finishing a mere 0.6 seconds behind Brown’s time of 6:23.

“This is definitely a great starting place since this is our first race ever,” novice stroke Kate Morris said. “We were thrown in against a really good crew and we can learn a lot from this.”

“They rowed a very composed race and they actually led,” assistant coach Cory Bosworth said of her boat. “I’m pretty excited since Brown was over-stroking us from the beginning. So, with fewer stokes we were going the distance and staying up on them, one of the most competitive boats in our league.”

The Bears enjoyed a three-second win in the second varsity eight, 6:06.74-6:09.74, and got away from Radcliffe in both fours with margins as large as 17 seconds.

“Overall, it’s always disappointing to lose to Brown,” Bosworth said. “I do think they went out and raced hard. Particularly, in the first three races of the day those three boats were all within striking distance.”

Saturday’s calm conditions were a pleasant surprise.

“The conditions were really good we were expecting lots of wind and heavy waves,” Morris said, “The current was pulling us down the race course.”

As the races progressed, a slight headwind turned to become a slight tailwind, which combined with tidal currents that strengthened over the morning helped to push and pull the boats through the course. Light rain over flat water kept conditions cool.

“Each race was faster than the last. The river added a lot of speed to the teams after that,” Bosworth said of the effect of the tide.

Though this was the first time out for the Black and White, the Bears, perennial championship contenders—they have taken five national titles in the last ten years—already had a race under their belts. Last week Brown traveled to New Jersey to take three out of five races from Ivy rival Princeton.

“Brown, like any great rowing team, is a group of hard workers,” Bosworth said. “We are also a team that works very hard. They had one more week of racing and so a little edge over Radcliffe. The lesson is well-learned and we will make the most of coming week.”

Next week, Radcliffe will play host to Princeton on the Charles River, measuring up against the No. 6 Tigers.

“In our league, being in the ballpark is very important, even just being in striking distance,” Bosworth said. “If you can’t win right off the bat you want to be in a place where you can get there, which these races show we are.”

—Staff writer Elizabeth A. Joyce can be reached at eajoyce@fas.harvard.edu.