Crimson Excels in International Meet

For many rowers on the Harvard men’s crew team, the end of their Harvard season was far from the end of their personal competitive season. A handful of Crimson athletes took their talents to the international stage this summer, representing their respective countries at the World Championship Regatta. With 11 rowers at the U23 World Championships and three at the senior regatta, the Crimson was well represented at the international level.

“Across the board, our guys did really well this summer,” sophomore Chris Wales said.

The athletes trained throughout the summer to make sure to post their best performance when representing their country.

“The coaches here are really supportive about national team stuff,” Wales said. “They are always willing to help us in anyway that they can when it comes to making these teams.”

Prior to the international competition, in June, Wales competed at the Under 23 US Championship Trials held in New Jersey. With a time of 6:49:34, Wales and his partner outraced their opponents by almost a six-second margin to land the first place finish in the final of the U23 double scull division, winning the bid for the United States. Following the team’s qualifying victory, the duo headed to Italy to compete at the U23 World Championships.

“It went pretty well,” Wales said. “My boat got fifth in the B Final, and with 19 entries in our division, we felt it was a really good result for us.”

Andrew Campbell ’14 also competed at the U23 Championships, putting up a time of 7:21:19 to snag the lead in the single sculls division. With his closest opponent 18 seconds behind, the graduate won with time to spare.

On the heavyweight side, junior Vincent Breet represented South Africa at the 2014 World Championships in Amsterdam. Breet and his partner picked up a bronze medal at the competition. The South African team fell to New Zealand duo Eric Murray and Hamish Bond, who have not lost a race since they began competing together in double scull back in 2008.

Another Crimson competitor this summer was sophomore Chase Buchholz. The heavyweight oarsmen went through a lengthy selection process to book his ticket to worlds, participating in a three week long selection camp in California.

“Being the youngest guy at the camp definitely made me feel like I was up against pretty big odds, but I looked at it as an opportunity to get better,” Buchholz said. “I felt like if I made the team it would be great, but if I didn’t it was still an amazing experience to just be there.”

—Staff writer Jillian Dukes can be reached at jdukes01@college.harvard.edu.