Men's Crews Finish in Top Three

Hosting 9,000 other competitors on the Charles River this weekend, both the Harvard’s men’s heavyweight and lightweight crew teams turned in strong performances at the Head of the Charles regatta, with both of the first eight boats finishing in the top three of their events.

HEAVYWEIGHTS

Last year, the Harvard heavyweight crew team saw its first-place finish snatched away from it after a 10-second buoy violation was repealed from the University of Washington. This year the Crimson was unable to reclaim its top ranked position, falling to third place behind OTC Amsterdam and USRowing in collegiate men’s eights.

Harvard finished the race with a time of 14:43.027, 1.86 seconds slower than top finisher OTC Amsterdam, and .38 seconds slower than runner-up USRowing, which suffered a three-minute penalty last year after interfering with other boats twice.

Members of the Crimson were satisfied finishing behind two teams that compete on an international level.

“We’re very pleased with our finish because it was an extremely strong field,” junior five-seat Ed Rippon said. “The two boats that beat us were both world champions and national team rowers so for a college crew to get so close to them was really pleasing. We put in a strong performance against all the other colleges so we’re proud of that too.”

One college in particular that Harvard was looking to beat this year was Washington after the Huskies took the first place title over the Crimson in last year’s regatta. The team succeeded in this feat, with Washington finishing ninth in the race with a time of 14:55.482.

“It feels really really great [to beat Washington], I can’t really describe it,” Rippon said. “They have always pushed us in the races the last few years and they are a really strong and talented group of guys so we are really happy to get one over them for a change.”

The first freshman boat also competed in men’s champion eights and finished 21st overall. Harvard’s third entry finished 28st with a time of 16:01.540.

The two men’s championship-four boats finished eighth and 18th in their race earlier Sunday afternoon.

On Saturday, the Crimson heavyweights entered two boats in men’s club eights. They finished fourth and 11th, respectively. The sole Harvard competitor in club men’s fours finished its race in 20th place.

LIGHTWEIGHTS

The Harvard lightweight crew team entered the Head of the Charles with a target on its back, entering undefeated for the past two seasons and bringing back-to-back gold medals at EARC Sprints and IRA National Championships home to Cambridge.

This streak, however, was snapped on Sunday when the first men’s lightweight eights boat finished behind Princeton by 8.54 seconds. Last year, the Crimson won the race handily, beating out USRowing by 11.72 seconds.

The team has gone through a lot of changes in the past year, losing longtime coach Charley Butt to the heavyweight team while Radcliffe women’s lightweight coach Michiel Bartman was called upon to fill the coaching void on the men’s lightweight team. This year’s first eight boat only saw two rowers return, with six out of the first eight from last year graduating in the spring.

“We are a very young crew, so it will take time [to mesh as a team], but we are confident that we can find the speed we need when it really matters in the spring,” junior stroke Alex Bonorris said. “Michiel is a fantastic coach…and we are really excited to continue improving under his routine.”

Although many were emphasizing the need to continue to succeed at an undefeated level, this opening race of the season is just a starting point for the rest of the races to come for the lightweights.

“This year we have a totally new crew so it’s going to be one of those times where we are going to have to build one race at a time and when we get it right, we’ll get it right,” junior seven-seat Andrew Campbell said. “And we’re going to get it right.”

For the lightweight fours, the race did not produce the same level of confidence as the first eights experienced. The team was penalized one minute for colliding with Argonaut under the Weeks footbridge. The penalty knocked the Crimson into last place for the event, finishing with an official time of 19:41.643.

“It’s just one of those unfortunate things that happens,” junior stoke Eli Leavitt said. “That’s not going to affect how we race in March, April, and May when it really matters.”

On the club competition level, the lightweights first freshman boat in men’s club eights finished in ninth place overall with a time of 15:36.721.

This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:

CORRECTION: Oct. 26, 2013

An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated the placement of Harvard’s boats in two races. Harvard’s third entry took 28th, not 31st, in men’s heavyweight champion eights, while another Harvard boat took fourth, not fifth, in men’s heavyweight club eights.