HEAD OF THE CHARLES '07: The Elite Eight

It is said greatness is born, not bred.

It is apparent from the beginning, obvious to anyone who is looking.

That was the case on the Charles River last year, as one truly dominating boat emerged on the waters of Beantown to go undefeated on the season.

Greatness does not come around often. But for anyone who caught a glimpse of the Radcliffe lightweight novice eight last season, they found it.

En route to an Eastern Sprints championship, the crew pounded its competition from the get-go, notching an unprecedented flawless season for the Black and White.

But the most impressive thing about the novice eight’s season was not what they accomplished but how they did it.

The times and margins of victory tell the tale: an eight-second win for gold at Eastern Sprints, a 17-second thrashing of Sprints bronze medalist Princeton during the dual season, and an astonishing 42-second victory over Boston-rival MIT on the Charles River, to name a few.

In a sport where races are won by tenths of a second, winning by more than 10 seconds, let alone by a half a minute, is exceedingly rare.

But the novice eight made the unusual seem commonplace—and managed to break records in the process.

“We tried to figure it out how it went so well,” says sophomore Lizzy Mazjoub, who rowed in the seven-seat of last year’s novice eight. “We had so much fun together, we’re not sure why or how it worked.”

Mazjoub, along with the other seven standouts from the novice eight, discovered a natural chemistry in the boat last year. The squad, which trained and raced together from September until the end of May, improved steadily, building up its speed week by week in the spring.

By the end of the dual season, in fact, the freshmen consistently out-performed the varsity eight, notching faster times in each of the last three

races.

The crew’s time of 7:07.7 in the Grand Finals at Eastern Sprints earned the novice eight a gold medal and proved the fastest time of any Radcliffe boat on the river that day.

But this year, there lies a new challenge.

Having stormed through freshman year, this stellar group must avoid a sophomore slump—and adjust to racing at the top, in the first varsity eight.

“We have five [from the freshmen eight boat last year] in the varsity boat this year, with the other three injured,” Majzoub says. “With any different combination, it’s going to be a different boat, but I think the boat we have is going to be great.”

To complicate this transition, the former varsity members must adjust to the influx of sophomores in the boat.

“They rowed as an eight all year long,” co-captain Amanda Kolb says. “Through Sprints, they all rowed together, so that was a big part of [their chemistry]. Their rowing style and their stroke was very similar, so that’s what we’re working on a lot now—making sure that our power application is the same throughout the boat.”

Expectations are high because the novice eight accomplished so much. Now, with five sophomores pacing the varsity eight, the success of last year must translate into wins this year—for the greatness showcased last year to be repeated, this time, on the biggest stage.

“We have such a successful freshman boat coming in, and I think the forecast to bring those two groups together [the varsity and the freshman eight] is good,” said soon-to-be head coach Will Stevens, who is set to take over for lightweight varsity coach Cecile Tucker while she takes maternity leave. “I think the team has already done that this fall, and we’re going to be able to focus on working as a squad to get the fastest speed.”

But this strong sophomore class

is just the beginning of the highlights for a deep lightweight team. The program kept all of its walk-ons from last year, boosting the squad’s numbers to unprecedented levels.

Throughout the Radcliffe program, the younger classes are strong—and surging.

“It’s been a lot of fun,” Kolb says. “They’re very dedicated athletes and good racers. It’s fun to have their energy on the team.”

It is written every year, but the question still remains: could this be the year?

The Black and White wants gold, at Eastern Sprints and IRAs, but a title has recently eluded the squad. It has been 10 years now since the squad captured a national championship.

But maybe these sophomores hold the key to bringing Radcliffe back to greatness.

And as they say, you can’t teach that kind of talent.

You’re born with it.

—Staff writer Walter E. Howell can be reached at wehowell@fas.harvard.edu.