Haines Cup Defense Falls Short

On the day the Harvard varsity lightweights were supposed to bounce back, the Crimson got bounced by a surging Navy crew in the final 500 meters.

And the Harvard second varsity, boasting 13 consecutive dual wins over two-plus years of racing, got the same treatment from its hosts in Annapolis.

Navy’s two varsity eights put together dominant sprints in the final 500 meters to snatch the Haines Cup from the Crimson, which had claimed the Cup for the first time in four years last year.

On Saturday in Annapolis, however, Harvard’s hopes at a repeat faded as its two varsity eights hit the final 500-meter mark.

The Midshipmen varsity took the Crimson’s bow ball and established opened water with 500 meters remaining, while the Harvard second varsity relinquished a commanding lead in the second half of its race.

Navy also swept the freshman races to put a definitive exclamation point on an already dominant Saturday morning.

“It’s always tough to take a loss, especially to a crew like Navy,” varsity six-seat Wes Kauble said. “You want to get out there and perform your best, and Navy did that. We didn’t. But I can’t wait until we get to the point where we’re able to perform our best.”

The Harvard varsity, which has yet to claim a lead off the start this year, found itself in an early two-seat hole. The Midshipmen are known to be fast off the start, but it was Navy’s strong base cadence in the heart of the course that put the race out of reach on Saturday.

Last weekend, Harvard’s attempts to close the gap against Dartmouth were stymied by a poised, almost expectant Big Green.

And Navy, fresh off a one-sided win over Georgetown the week before, was even better at stopping the Harvard varsity before it ever got started.

“We had a few moves planned throughout the race, and we took them,” Kauble said. “It just seemed like Navy knew they were coming—and they were ready to exploit the fact.”

The Crimson used its own strong base to keep the margin to two seats after both crews settled into the first 500. Then both crews passed the 400-meter mark, and Navy began steadily accumulating seats to its narrow lead.

By the halfway point, Navy stood close to a length up.

“When we went to make a move, they made a move that was stronger,” Kauble added.

Navy continued to add to its lead in a seat-by-seat fashion over the third 500 meters, building as much as a length lead by 1500 meters down. Harvard did still hold contact with the Midshipmen with 500 meters remaining, but Navy even stole that small victory from the Crimson.

Coming into the final 500 meters, as both boats took up the rating to prepare for the final sprint, Navy once again asserted its dominance on its home course.

The Midshipmen took Harvard’s bow ball and ran with it, establishing open water and effectively destroying any hopes of a Crimson comeback in the last strokes of the race. Once again, Navy trumped Harvard’s move and claimed four more seats in the final sprint. The Midshipmen crossed the line in 6:19.4, while Harvard followed almost five seconds later in 6:24.3.

“We didn’t make a move that we should have,” varsity two-seat Greg Stein said. “We should have done something like that, but Navy was the one that moved on us.”

The varsity win marked Navy’s third in four years, but it was the Midshipmen’s second varsity victory that proved most triumphant in this year’s Haines Cup competition.

The Crimson second varsity hadn’t lost a dual race since April 2003.

And on Saturday, at least for the first 1,000 meters, it looked that the streak would survive its trip to Annapolis. Harvard used a fast start and a strong first half to build a six-seat lead.

But then Navy, in a manner characteristic of Harvard’s come-from-behind Haines Cup wins a year ago, took complete control over the final 1,000 meters. The Midshipmen trailed by three-fourths of a length at the midway mark, more than two seconds behind the Crimson.

Bolstered by a dominant third 500 meters, Navy pulled even just before the final 500 mark.

The Midshipmen took up the stroke rating after the midway point and closed the six-seat gap within 500 meters.

“We were getting outstroked by about four strokes—and we tried to take the rating up,” said second varsity stroke Chip Schellhorn. “Every team has something that it needs to work on, and we’ve identified what we need to work on. We definitely need to be able to row higher.”

Still, however, the Crimson held even with Navy in the last 500, even as the Midshipmen increased the stroke rating and Harvard stayed relatively stable. A neck-and-neck last 500 meters made for a bow ball-to-bow ball sprint, with neither crew knowing which had the advantage at the finish.

“Last year when we won [against Navy], we won by a definitive margin,” Schellhorn said. “I think it was different [this year] in the sense that we saw them walking back on us, but even coming through the finish line we thought we had won he race.”

Navy, however, snatched a definitive seat-and-a-half in the final push to the finish, and the Midshipmen walked away with a tight second varsity win and a Haines Cup victory.

Navy crossed in 6:31.7, and Harvard trailed in 6:32.3—just 0.6 seconds and a late flurry separating the Crimson from yet another dual win.

—Staff writer Aidan E. Tait can be reached at atait@fas.harvard.edu.