The Salisbury School crew team capped off an undefeated season with a national championship this past weekend and Greenwich resident Torrance Smith was at the center of the action.
Smith, a recent graduate from Salisbury, was one of three captains of the crew team and on the Men’s First Varsity-8 boat that struck gold at the 2016 National Schools’ Championship Regatta.
“We were pretty nervous because up to that point of the season, we were undefeated and won New Englands and were probably favorited,” Smith said. “We had targets on our backs going into it. We knew Kent was a fast crew and wanted to finish the season strong. We were nervous and there was a fair amount of pressure on us to preform, but we handled it well. We were confident.”
Salisbury took home the gold at Nationals with a time of 4:48.86 and upended Kent School, who took second overall with a time of 4:51.83. The next closest boat was Choate Rosemary Hall, as they grabbed the bronze with a time of 5:00.29.
“For this particular group of eight guys, their boat chemistry was really unusual,” head coach Tote Smith said. “Because of that, the combined was much more than the sum of the parts. They were also racers and were always their best on race day. Most of these guys have been together for years at Salisbury.”
Along with Smith, Will Berkowitz, Petter Bang-Andeasen, Charlie Ryan, Tim Pumphret, Kai Rice, Ryan Cornelius, Jacques von Steuben and coxswain Chase Merrill were in the top Salisbury boat.
“It felt good and was a big relief off our shoulders,” Torrance Smith said. “It was very emotional because it was our last race together. We all had a great connection with one another and we felt like brothers. It was also our coach’s last race for Salisbury Crew. We were happy and proud of how we did, but the emotion of knowing it’s our last race together really got to everyone.”
Although Salisbury took home top honors, it wasn’t the easiest of victories. After going neck-in-neck early in the race with six boats, it was Kent School that built the lead. Midway through the race Salisbury was able to pull even. In the end, however, it was Salisbury that went strong the rest of the way to pull out the nearly three-second victory.
“Most of those three seconds came in the last 250 meters,” Tote Smith said. “It was a very close race.”
“It felt good and I was definitely proud of how we did this season,” Torrance Smith said. “I honestly didn’t have to do that much for the team because all the boys knew what to do and didn’t need much leadership. They did everything by the books.”
While Torrance Smith, who will be rowing for Columbia University at lightweight, was thrilled leading the team, he knew he couldn’t do it all without the help of fellow captains Ryan and Jackson Valen.
“We worked well as a team and helped with the success that the crew had this year,” Torrance Smith said. “The three of us did everything we could to help Salisbury reach success and I couldn’t be happier working with them.”
For Tote Smith, having Torrance Smith as the seven man and a consistent presence on the team has been key to its success.
“He’s a competitor,” Tote Smith said. “As a captain, he has a lot to do with the success of this boat. And he’s also a tone setter with the people in the boat outside the water. He’s a light-hearted guy with always a smile. He doesn’t take things too seriously and as a result the team goes into the races relaxed.
“It shows in the way that they row,” Tote Smith added. “They could be four seats down to Kent with 600 meters to go and still have complete confidence that they could win. That’s really unusual for a high school team feel that way.”
