Chris McDougall And Arthur Hollingsworth

The Harvard varsity heavyweight crew team does not have one strong, committed captain this year.

Instead, it has two.

With members returning from the American and Canadian Olympic teams, this year's squad has unusual strength not only in its individual members but also in its leadership.

Under senior Co-Captains Arthur Hollingsworth and Chris McDougall, a national championship season like that of two years ago could very well be in the making.

Two is not always better than one, but the performance of these two individuals so far seems to disprove the theory that less is more.

"It's still early in the year so it's hard to assess them," says Head Coach Harry Parker, adding. "I can say that they've shown a lot of enthusiasm and seem intent on providing the squad with positive leadership."

The Harvard varsity letter holders elect captains in early June, following the Yale race. "More often than not," Parker says, a single captain is elected, "but in the case where two individuals are held in equal regard, the team will elect co-captains."

The result is what McDougall calls "sort of a Punch and Judy combination." Of his co-captain, he says, "Arthur has had experience with the military so he's got a lot of discipline. He's serious and dedicated and it rubs off on the rest of the team."

Regarding McDougall, Hollingsworth comments, "Chris adds a lot of color to the team. He's got a mischievious attitude that's great at easing the tension...for example, earlier this year he lead a mass jump in into the Charles in a semi-naked condition.

"Together we can do a lot more for the team than we could alone," Hollingsworth adds. "We can each focus on different areas to help people out."

The result is a relaxed but hard-working attitude at Newell Boat House. In addition to the occasional tailgate and Friday afternoon races followed by a few cases of beer, the spirit and cohesion of the team is evident in its participation in events such as the Head of the Connecticut.

The captains organized Harvard's first trip to this early-October race, where the Crimson captured first place over Penn, Brown and other Eastern conference schools.

Senior coxswain Dave Corey sums up their leadership. "They're perfect Right now the atmosphere is very relaxed but their personalities will be most important in the spring when there's a lot of pressure."

He adds, "In order to win, you have to have people working together. The only thing that can keep us from a national championship is personality conflicts. It'll be up to Chris and Arthur to deal with that and I think they can do it."

And while the Hollingsworth-McDougall combination is noteworthy, both can stand alone on their achievements as oarsmen.

Hollingsworth began his rowing career at the Brooks School in North Andover, Mass. While this experience helped him somewhat, the Economics concentrator says he noticed a "big difference between high school and college... not just that we had rowed in fours and here we have fours and eights, but the whole style and attitude."

The Kirkland House resident had played football and wrestled, but once at Harvard, he devoted himself to crew, Why?

"I'm constantly asked, 'Why do you do it, why do you do these apparently crazy things all for a few six-minute races in the spring?' It's a difficult question--there's little glory involved, no crowds, no individual stars."

His answer: "Crew is more than just participating in a sport. It gives you a certain toughness an attitude that you can apply to everything."

McDougall agrees that crew means a great deal more to him than just rowing. He describes it as "a focal point," a "source of solidarity."

"As you get more involved, it takes up more and more of your interest and time," says the English major. "looking back at pictures from the 1800s, you realize the tradition and it's easy to get caught up in it."

McDougall began rowing "on a whim" during his senior year at St. Joseph's Preparatory School in Philadelphia. The former basketball player soon decided crew was "the sport to go with" and pursued it in a post-graduate year at the Kent School in Connecticut.

The strength and tradition of Harvard rowing attracted him over that of other Ivy League schools. He speaks of a certain "Harvard style" in crew. "It's very fluid, you try to remove and check or hesitation in your stride."

He adds that Parker's method has been so successful that "every college in the country will follow Harvard...There's nothing covert or hidden, but it's hard to figure out why it works."

One preliminary indication of whether and how the Hollingsworth-McDougall combination will work this season is tomorrow's Head of the Charles regatta.

Although both captains stress that the race provides a more recreational than competitive function, they do hope to do well.

"The Head is an opportunity to show our stuff," McDougall says, "and I think we will."