Women's Crew Season Preview
3/27/2025
The Brown women's crew team begins the spring portion of their schedule with a race on Mar. 29 against the Princeton Tigers in New Jersey. The two programs will battle for the Class of 1987 Trophy, which the Tigers were able to retain last season. The schedule for Saturday is as follows: V8 at 9 a.m., 4V8 at 9:15 a.m., 2V8 at 9:30 a.m., B4 and C4 at 9:45 a.m., and 3V8 and 4V8 finishing the competition at 10 a.m. The winner of the V8 race will take home the Class of 1987 Trophy.
“The team has worked hard this year and we are all excited to get out on the water and compete,” said Loyalty Chair for Women's Crew Head Coach Tessa Gobbo-Zimmerman '13.
The Bears enter the season with high expectations after a successful 2024 campaign, finishing in sixth place overall in last year's NCAA Championships. In the regular season, the Bears dominated the competition with consistent podium finishes in every matchup: four in the V8, 2V8, 3V8, A4, and B4, two in the C4, and one in the D4.
Coaching Carousel
Gobbo-Zimmerman joined the program in 2021 as an assistant, but enters her first season at the helm as the head coach and leader of the program. As a member of the team during her days at Brown, she helped lead the Bears to three consecutive Eastern Sprints Championships from 2022-2024, a share of the Ivy title in the spring season of 2022, and two top ten finishes at the 2023 and 2024 NCAA Championships. After college, Gobbo-Zimmerman went on to compete in the World Championships, winning gold in the 4- in 2013 and 8+ in 2015. In 2016, she traveled to Rio with Team USA and brought home an Olympic gold medal in the 8+ at the Summer Olympics.
Hank Zimmerman enters his first season with the Bears as the Gratitude Assistant Coaching Chair while Grace Collins, also in her first season with the program, assumes the position of Dahl Family Assistant Coach for Women's Crew. Ned Foster enters his seventh season with Brown as the rigger for both the men's and women's programs.
The Schedule
After taking on the Princeton Tigers to start the season on Mar. 29, the Bears will head back to New Jersey for an Apr. 5 showdown with the Penn Quakers.
From there the team will head down to warmer waters in Sarasota, Florida to compete in the Big Ten Invitational from Apr. 18-19. Upon returning back to Providence, the Bears will host the Cornell Big Red in the only home race of the season on Apr. 26.
Next on the docket for the Bears is the Eastern Sprints in Worcester, Massachusetts on May 4. The final races of the season will take place on May 17-18 in Cherry Hill, New Jersey as Brown will look to finish the year on a high note at the Ivy Championship.
The full schedule can be found HERE.
Roster Breakdown
The Bears roster is heavily populated with young talent, with 28 freshmen and sophomores making the team. With only 20 upperclassmen, Gobbo-Zimmerman will look to her seniors to set the tone and lead a young Bears roster through a season with lofty goals.
“We put in a lot of hard work this winter and I can't wait to show off our speed on the water,” said Caroline Schmitz. As a senior and one of the team captains this season, the Bears will lean on Schmitz' experience to help bring along some of the younger athletes on the roster.
Other returning seniors are Riley Cooper, Annie Herring, Juliette Hopgood, Jessica McGrady, Elizabeth Polydefkis, Audrey Roche, and Nadia Vondeling.
