House Crews Run on Spirit in Current Struggle to Stay Afloat

There are those who are early risers, those who are late sleepers and those who always seem to have drunk too much coffee the night before. Then there are those who row for their House crew teams.

Unlike life on the river several decades ago, rowing for an intramural team today takes dedication fueled not by a universal athletic participation requirement but by individual initiative.

"A lot of people do it because of the romance of rowing on the Charles River, some do it to get a good workout," said Jennifer M. Gaudiani '97, a former Dunster crew team captain. Some students are also drawn to the social atmosphere of the House crew teams, which helps establish new friendships and strengthen existing relationships. The common bond among all House rowers? An admiration for the beauty of the sport.

"It's very physically demanding and yet highly aesthetic," said Kirkland resident tutor Christopher D.H. Row. "It's not about hauling yourself through the water with brute strength. You've got to have control and finesse...You're a boat, not eight individual people. When it clicks, it's a magical moment."

The only tutor currently on the five-boat Kirkland team, Row was introduced to rowing only last year and already shows sign of addiction. He has spent countless hours researching the history of the Kirkland crew team and was even inspired to establish a House rowing club, only to find that one has been quietly existing for over 60 years.

The club dates back to a golden era of House crew in the 1930s, when President Lowell's original seven river Houses were new and participation in athletics was required. Lowell strove to create a college system modeled after that of Oxford and Cambridge Universities, to the extent of placing the new Houses on the river.

Yet Lowell faced his share of battles. According to Row, opponents of University decentralization prevented Lowell from applying the English term "college" to Harvard dorms, preferring that the term be applied only to the Faculty of Arts and Sciences. Eventually, Lowell settled for stylish English prep school terminology and the "House" system was born.

At the time, House crews were far more influential than those on the river today. The relative success of the teams--which often competed at the intercollegiate level--may have been due to the fact that the crews often attracted a mix of varsity and House rowers.

"Each of the original Houses had their own launch; their own coaches," Row said. "There was a lot of permeability between varsity and House."

House crew was also not limited to Harvard College alone. A residential House-College crew race between Harvard and Yale was held every year between top-ranked teams of each university. Although Kirkland and Eliot House both hosted highly successful IM crew teams until the early '70s, Eliot House generally dominated the House crew scene during the '60s.

At the same time that Eliot House was winning its victories on the Charles, however, the fairy tale House crew story began to sour. As the responsibilities and power of the House Masters, once presidential in nature, became gradually reduced, athletics simultaneously began to revolve around the Harvard Athletic Department. This trend continues today.

"It's a matter of policy within the Athletic Department that House crew should be IM crew," said Harry Parker, head coach of the varsity crew teams since 1963. "That's what it's designed for, that's what makes sense...The caliber of the House crews does not lend itself to intercollegiate competition."

Yet, some say it is not the quality but the status of House crews that has prevented them from attaining the successes they once enjoyed.

"It reflects a larger University-wide trend, which is toward a more central University," Row said.

For three decades, beginning in the late '50s, the resources and extensiveness of the intramural crew program declined significantly, until House crews disappeared from the intercollegiate competition scene. House boat launches were removed, and the construction of Memorial Drive barred direct river access from the Houses. The last recorded mention of the Harvard-Yale House-College race was in 1958. A Brief History of House Crew

1852

Harvard/Yale race--the first U.S. intercollegiate sporting event

1919

Dormitory crews row in the spring and fall

1930-31

Inter-House athletics begin under President Lowell's House system

1932

Harvard-Yale House-College races begin

1958

Last recorded mention of House-College races

1970

Radcliffe students join in House races

1996-97

All 13 Houses receive new shells

"The success of the teams relies really not onthe coaching," said Dan Boyne, director ofrecreational rowing at Weld Boathouse who assistscurrent House crews.

"We give them some coaching, but they're reallyrun by student organizing, and how well they dodepends on their student leaders," he said.

No longer the internationally competitivepowerhouses they once were, the maintenance ofHouse crew teams now rests primarily oncharismatic student leaders.

Although each of the 13 Houses has a boat,Currier House currently has no team due to lack ofinterest while Cabot, Kirkland and Dudley teamsare sharing Currier's unused shell.

"Dunster House had a phenomenal turn-out," saidBrigid K. Byrne '99, noting that despite thelarger number of students interested in rowing,"we've been able to accommodate everybody."

Under Boyne's direction, the House crew programhas been updated in recent years, and all 13shells have been replaced with newer, lighterboats.

Once upon a time all you needed to participatein House crew was proof of residence and a swimtest.

Now aspiring rowers must complete acertification process to prove their competencybefore they can row on the Charles.

"The idea was to have fewer but moreexperienced crews, but it's actually produced moreinterest," said Suzie Philips, Cabot crew teamhead and intramural tutor.

Although Philips insisted that rowers takeHouse crew quite seriously, the emphasis is onenjoyment.

"We're out here for fun," she said. "We'regetting up at six o' clock in the morning, so itbetter be fun."

During the past few years, House crew hasresisted a general trend of declining studentinterest in intramural athletics.

And if House crew really does run onenthusiasm, they may win the race for studentparticipants in the long run

"The success of the teams relies really not onthe coaching," said Dan Boyne, director ofrecreational rowing at Weld Boathouse who assistscurrent House crews.

"We give them some coaching, but they're reallyrun by student organizing, and how well they dodepends on their student leaders," he said.

No longer the internationally competitivepowerhouses they once were, the maintenance ofHouse crew teams now rests primarily oncharismatic student leaders.

Although each of the 13 Houses has a boat,Currier House currently has no team due to lack ofinterest while Cabot, Kirkland and Dudley teamsare sharing Currier's unused shell.

"Dunster House had a phenomenal turn-out," saidBrigid K. Byrne '99, noting that despite thelarger number of students interested in rowing,"we've been able to accommodate everybody."

Under Boyne's direction, the House crew programhas been updated in recent years, and all 13shells have been replaced with newer, lighterboats.

Once upon a time all you needed to participatein House crew was proof of residence and a swimtest.

Now aspiring rowers must complete acertification process to prove their competencybefore they can row on the Charles.

"The idea was to have fewer but moreexperienced crews, but it's actually produced moreinterest," said Suzie Philips, Cabot crew teamhead and intramural tutor.

Although Philips insisted that rowers takeHouse crew quite seriously, the emphasis is onenjoyment.

"We're out here for fun," she said. "We'regetting up at six o' clock in the morning, so itbetter be fun."

During the past few years, House crew hasresisted a general trend of declining studentinterest in intramural athletics.

And if House crew really does run onenthusiasm, they may win the race for studentparticipants in the long run