Freshman Crew Wins at Henley

Long after most Harvard students left Cambridge for the summer, rowers from the freshman heavyweight boat and the varsity lightweight boat remained to train for the Henley Royal Regatta. The rowers endured grueling practices out of Newell Boathouse until June 24, when they packed their bags and gear for Henley-on-Thames, England.

The work and the time paid off, as the Harvard freshman heavyweight boat captured the Temple Challenge Cup and the Crimson lightweight varsity boat rowed to the quarterfinal in the same event of the five-day regatta, which drew a quarter of a million spectators from July 4-8.

As the most famous regatta in the world, the Henley Royal Regatta attracts rowers and spectators from all regions of the globe. This year, 504 crews entered into the 17 events, 111 from overseas and 393 from England.

“The crews at Henley are the top people in their category in the world,” said freshman Justin Webb, a graduate of Radley College in London.

The Henley Royal Regatta was founded in 1836 and has been raced every year since then outside of the two World Wars. The regatta is termed “royal” because it received royal patronage from Prince Albert in 1851 and the ruling monarch has served as patron in the years since.

“It’s a thrill to have your school send you across the ocean,” said freshman Jonathan Lehe.

The Crimson freshman heavyweight boat earned its place on the Thames River by winning the crown at Eastern Sprints with a time of 5:35.98, a new freshman course record on Lake Quinsigamond in Worcester, MA. Harvard then closed out its season in the U.S. with a solid sweep over Yale in the Harvard-Yale regatta on June 3. With an amazing season under their belts, the freshmen were ready to travel over the Atlantic to tackle international foes in the Temple Challenge Cup.

While Harvard may have been prepared to row the Thames course well, it faced a racing format entirely different from that used during the dual season. Henley is arranged in a single elimination, head-to-head bracket format, where a draw determines the placement of all 32 crews.

The Harvard freshman boat drew the University of Bristol in the first round of competition. The Crimson won by two and a quarter lengths and earned the right to race on the following day.

“We had five races in five days,” Webb said. “There were no second chances. We had to use more tactics in this regatta [than in other regattas]. We had to be able to win convincingly, yet conserve for the next race.”

Harvard’s strategy proved to be successful as the Crimson triumphed over the Isis Boat Club by a length and a quarter and then sent the University of Ireland back to Galway, Ireland without a cup.

“It’s fun to have a single elimination tournament,” Lehe said. “It spices things up.”

The Harvard freshman crew had advanced to the semifinals, where it confronted the Yale junior varsity lightweight crew, one of several boats that Yale sent to Henley in the year of its tercentennial. The Crimson pulled off a time of 6:27 to garner the victory over the Elis by a length and a quarter.

With the win, Harvard expected a difficult race in the final on Sunday, July 8, against Oxford Brookes University, a premier English crew and holder of the Temple Challenge Cup course record with its winning time of 6:14 in 1995.

“Some of the biggest expectations were in our event,” Lehe said. “Throughout the first four days, [Harvard and Brookes] were matching performances over all these [other] teams. Each day, the team we raced was harder and harder. We were trying to estimate how much energy they were conserving. We were looking at margins and times every day and comparing them to ours.”

In the anticipated race, Oxford Brookes got off to a fast start, taking the lead over the Crimson in the first 600 meters. But Harvard held its own and walked through Oxford Brookes in the final 500 meters of the race, winning the Temple Challenge cup by a length with a time of 6:36.

“It was definitely the most difficult race because we had to come from behind,” Webb said. “It was as dramatic as a win can be. We had to look losing in the face.”

“We had to have our best race to win that one,” said freshman stroke Kip McDaniel.

The Temple Cup is the Crimson’s 18th crown at the Henley Royal Regatta. Harvard’s past titles include three victories from freshman crews in the Thames Cup. Most recently, the Harvard heavyweight crew captured the Ladies’ Challenge Plate in 1998.

Though Harvard has had considerable success in the past at Henley, this is the Crimson’s first Temple Cup. Prior to this year, Yale was the only American university to have won the Temple Cup. The Elis captured the cup in both 1996 and 2000.

“Racing [at Henley] was phenomenal, more than I can say,” Webb said. “Rowing back in England, beating some of the best English universities, especially as a freshman, was incredible. And it was the first time Harvard won this cup, so we were able to add to the Harvard legacy.”

“It’s the best possible way [to end the season],” McDaniel said. “It’s exactly how we wanted to do it. We reached our full potential, which is great.”

The accomplishments of all the freshman crews bode well for the future, as a number of freshmen will challenge upperclassmen for places in varsity boats.

“There’s nothing but good on the horizon for Harvard rowing,” McDaniel said. “There are a lot of strong rowers coming up and a lot of competition.”

In the final, the Harvard freshmen avenged the loss of the Harvard lightweight crew to Oxford Brookes University in the quarterfinals.

“We definitely got a tougher draw than some other crews,” said junior Pat Todd. “I was disappointed to lose, but it was a good way to end it.”

The Crimson lightweight crew finished its season in the U.S. by winning the IRA National Championship over season-long nemesis Yale on the Cooper River in Camden, N.J. Harvard has won the national crown every odd year since 1991, for a total of six titles.

After falling to Yale in both the dual race and at Eastern Sprints, the Crimson’s grand final victory over the Elis at the National Championship warranted a trip to the Henley Royal Regatta, where Harvard would see some familiar faces.

In its first race of the regatta, Harvard faced the Naval Academy’s lightweight boat, an opponent the Crimson beat by nine seconds during the dual season. Harvard repeated its victory over the Naval Academy at Henley, with a margin of a length and a quarter.

The Crimson’s next challenger was the Dartmouth junior varsity lightweight crew. Harvard’s 6:44 bested the Big Green, who trailed by two-thirds of a length. The Crimson moved into the quarterfinals, where it met its match in the first boat of Oxford Brookes University.

“We lost to a better crew and they outweighed us by a lot,” Todd said.

The heavyweight boat of Oxford Brookes had a fast start, giving the crew an initial advantage which was held through the course of the race. Harvard’s lightweight boat pulled in two lengths behind Oxford Brookes‚ in a time of 6:31.

“It was a great experience,” Todd said. “It’s not that big of a deal in the U.S., but when you go over, having that many people watching you is really great. They don’t care what school you row for, they’re just cheering for you. It’s great to have that much attention given to our sport.”

The success of the varsity lightweight boat this year was particularly satisfying because six seniors from that boat graduated this year.

“I’m impressed by this particular crew because they never gave in,” said lightweight Coach Charley Butt. “They had a tough weekend [at Eastern Sprints]. They accepted that they had to work harder to improve. At some points, it’s easier to decide that another crew is better or faster—to keep pushing is exceptional. I admire their determination and their persistence. It paid off for them and those qualities shine through.”

In addition to the two eight-boats, Harvard also sent a pair of rowers to compete in the Silver Goblets and Nickall’s Challenge Cup. Alex Chastain-Chapman and Graham O’Donoghue represented Harvard in this high-level pair event.

The pair lost in the first race to future-finalists P.M. Haining and N.J. Strange of the Auriol Kensington Rowing Club and Leander Club. Haining and Strange were defeated in the final by James Cracknell and Matthew Pinsent of the Leander Club. Cracknell and Pinsent both earned gold medals in the Sydney Olympics and are currently first in World Cup standings.

Another American crew found success at Henley—Dartmouth. After a late start to its spring season on the water due to frozen water, Dartmouth picked up speed at the end of its season, in time to garner second place at Sprints and a spot in the final of the Ladies’ Challenge Plate against Princeton. In the final, the Big Green overcame an early Princeton lead to win the cup with a time of 6:30.

Some of the Harvard rowers are still not done rowing competitively this summer. Todd joins heavyweights sophomore Mike Blomquist and Sam Brooks ’01 at Princeton where they are trying out for U.S. National teams.