Henley Record-Holders Return Home

While rowers and tourists from around the world swarm the banks of the Charles River and add to the congestion on Mass. Ave., the Harvard crews hope to stay ahead of the congestion on the water and improve upon last year’s dominating performance.

A year ago, the Crimson came in third in the Championship Eight event, finishing only seconds behind the U.S. and German national teams. But while Harvard returns four members from last year’s first boat, the Crimson can’t rest on its laurels.

“There’s more competition here this year,” heavyweight captain Mike Skey said. “Everyone is returning, even the national champions California-Berkeley. We’re really looking forward to Cal because we never get to race against them, and we want to see how we match up.”

The Crimson’s only opportunity to race Cal would have been in the IRA National Championship regatta, where the Harvard and Radcliffe lightweights race every year. However, the heavyweights’ tradition of training extensively for the Harvard-Yale regatta—a marathon course of four miles for the varsity boats—has prevented the Crimson from competing in IRAs, as the regattas fall into the same time frame.

The heavyweights have entered a total of six boats in the regatta. The Crimson have entered two boats in the Championship Eight, one in both the Championship Four and Club Eight, and freshman boats in both the Youth Eight and the Collegiate Eight. While most of the teams will be racing under the banner of Harvard or the Charles River Rowing Association, the Championship Four boat will be racing as the Crabtree Rowing Club.

The lightweight crew looks forward to a chance to preview this year’s competition. Last year, the Crimson’s first boat placed seventh in the Lightweight Eight event, while the second boat placed last.

Defending national champion Yale always provides stiff competition.

“Yale always puts up a good showing and Navy is sure to be good,” lightweight captain Nick Blannin said.

Harvard has one boat in each of the Lightweight Eight, the Collegiate Eight and the Youth Eight events.

“We hope to be competitive with the other universities across the board, not necessarily in one event in particular because we have a number of entries,” Harvard coach Harry Parker said.

The heavyweight crew knows it will have to be at the top of its game to match last year’s performance. Harvard’s exceptional performance at Head of the Charles set the tone for the rest of the year, as the Crimson led the East all season until its loss to Wisconsin in EARC Sprints.

Harvard went on to still greater success when it crossed the pond last summer and presented a record-breaking performance at the Henley Royal Regatta in Henley-on-the-Thames, England. The Crimson won three titles, a feat never before accomplished by a non-English team and also setup the first All-American final in the Brittania Cup. But this benchmark has not quenched the Crimson’s thirst for success.

“We can achieve more this year,” Skey said. “The classes below us are just as fast.”

While the lightweights haven’t enjoyed the recent success of their heavyweight counterparts, rowing in front of an enormous crowd on their home course could be the right ingredient to spur Harvard on to success.

“The atmosphere is better [at Head of the Charles]—everyone is cheering for the English in Henley,” Skey said. “It’s good to be in our hometown.”