"We are going to be a fast boat this year, full of people willing to do what it takes to do at least as well as we did last year, and then some," said Heavyweight Women's Crew Captain Leigh Weiss.

If that is true, then this year's crew of Black and White rowers certainly has its work cut out for it.

The Radcliffe Heavyweight Crew has been a consistently strong team since its inception 18 years ago. The heavies have been undefeated in regular-season rowing and Ivy League champs for two straight years.

And last spring, for the first time since 1975, the Black and White won the Eastern Sprints and copped the Governor's Cup. It then went on to grab a close third-place finish in the national championships.

But the Black and White lost four seniors from last year's crew, including national-team rowers Alison Townley, Lindsay Burns and Serena Eddy. And this year's crew is very young, comprised mainly of juniors and sophomores.

The coaches, however, remain optimistic about Radcliffe's chances of repeating last year's performance.

"They made a strong showing in the Head of the Charles regatta this fall," Novice Coach Holly Hatton said. "They're very tenacious."

The top rivals of the heavies this year will be Princeton and Yale.

"They have a big job on their hands to do what last year's boat did," rookie Lightweight Coach Jennie Marshall said, "but I think they'll be a really strong crew."

Lightweights

This year's lightweight team, which has a strong winning tradition is pretty much in the same boat as the heavies.

The Radcliffe lightweights are one of the most consistent teams on the Harvard campus. The defending Eastern Sprints Champions have not lost a regular season regatta since 1983.

The lights placed second in the national championships last spring, losing to the University of Tampa by only a few hundredths of a second.

Radcliffe is also the San Diego Crew Classic Champion, and will travel back to the West Coast during spring break to defend its title.

Although the Varsity Four lost only one senior, the other lightweights may be moving to the heavyweight team because of more abundant competition in that weight class.