Coach and Competitor

Radcliffe coach Liz O’Leary has more than one role to play on Head of the Charles weekend. While her rowers trained for their Regatta events, O’Leary was preparing for her own contest in the Master’s eight, a race that has become a personal tradition, dating back to a missed Olympic opportunity.

In 1980, O’Leary was a member of the U.S. Olympic rowing team that was gearing up for a medal attempt in Moscow. After tasting Olympic competition in 1976, she was eager for another opportunity. With shock and disbelief, the rowers learned of President Jimmy Carter’s decision to boycott the Games as protest against the Soviet Union’s invasion of Afghanistan. Endeavors to persuade political officials not to punish the athletes proved useless—the closest O’Leary came to the 1980 Olympics was a satellite feed of the races underway without her boat.

More than twenty years later, the members of the 1980 Olympic team maintain a bond forged in remembrance of the denied opportunity. Following the incident, the team formed the 1980 Rowing Club, which has competed in the Head of the Charles every year since then.

“We race as [the] 1980 [crew] with the intention being that we don’t want anybody to forget,” O’Leary said.

Both the men’s and women’s boats have remained close throughout the years, gathering each fall to share company and the joys of rowing. Though all are intense competitors, winning is kept firmly in perspective.

“Our goal is to continue to keep everybody’s eyes open to what happened to us and what we believe is right,” O’Leary said.

The Renown of Radcliffe

Since retiring from competition in 1984, O’Leary has pursued the same standard of excellence in coaching that she sought as an athlete. A 1976 graduate of the University of New Hampshire, she participated in six World Championships in addition to being a member of both the 1976 and 1980 Olympic Teams. As a coach, her credits include the 1988 Olympic Team and seven World Championship teams.

Coming to Radcliffe presented new opportunities in an Ivy League full of historically well-established rowing programs, but O’Leary has not shirked the challenge. Since her arrival in 1987, she has led Radcliffe teams to an appearance at every NCAA Championship since its inception seven years ago.

“Outside of Harvard, you’ll get people saying, ‘Oh, you row for Radcliffe,’ or ‘Oh, you go to Harvard and you’re on the women’s rowing team,’” she said. “You’re recognized as being a pretty impressive person.”

Since women’s heavyweight rowing became an NCAA sport seven years ago, its popularity has blossomed. For many schools, it has served as a perfect solution to the gender equity issues raised by Title IX, a reply to that persistent issue—what will be the women’s football?

“Rowing is a sport that answers that question,” said O’Leary.

With 60 or 70 women on a roster, varsity crew involves more people than most other women’s athletic teams, while requiring minimal space.

“We just need a river and lots of boats,” she laughed.

Coaching As An Athlete

While O’Leary defers praise to the athletes, rowers cite O’Leary herself as the motivating force behind their victories.

“Not many teams go to the NCAAs every year, and I think that really speaks to her success,” said heavyweight co-captain Sarah Psutka. “She continually makes the team deeper and stronger.”

O’Leary’s emphasis on persistent recruiting has resulted in all-around depth that places Radcliffe among the elite.

“We have rowers in our third boat who could easily be in our first or second,” Psutka said.

Psutka added that the mentality of “team success above all,” while strongly echoed by all team members, was initially presented by O’Leary.

Heavyweight co-captain Courtney Brown was instantly drawn to the unique Radcliffe atmosphere on her recruiting trip four years ago. She recalled the way she sat in the crew office with O’Leary and then-novice coach Hallie Gilman and was constantly interrupted by rowers coming in to say hello.

“I could tell right off the bat that this was a place where people enjoy themselves,” she said.

The fact that O’Leary will be sharing the river with her rowers this weekend is consistent with her stance as both a leader and a colleague. Her dual identity is evident in how she guides her rowers as well as how she views her accomplishments.

“The highlights for me are the highlights for the athletes,” O’Leary said. “It’s not so much what I’ve done as it is a reflection of what the athletes themselves have done. When you have an incredibly motivated, talented, hard-working group of women who love doing this, and they’re good at it, that kind of commitment will make you successful.”

Juggling Act

Like her rowers, O’Leary attempts to maintain a balance between crew and other interests. The mother of two young boys, finding time for herself apart from all her duties can be something of a challenge.

“I don’t know the last time I went out to a movie,” she said, laughing.

She has, however, had time to appear in one. In a rare vacation from Radcliffe, O’Leary volunteered her talents as a coach and stand-in for Meryl Streep in the 1993 movie The River Wild.

For encouragement and advice on juggling a full schedule of family, recruiting and coaching, O’Leary counts on men’s crew coach Harry Parker and women’s basketball coach Kathy Delaney-Smith She values her relationships above all.

“My family and this team, these are the important things,” O’Leary said.

Her passion for personal connections is echoed in the way she motivates her rowers. Pstuka recalls a favorite quote of O’Leary’s: “Sometimes you gotta go out there and just love it.”