If You Will :: Scull

For stressed-out Harvard students, efficiency is key. Everyone wants to accumulate the greatest quantity of fun possible while taking minimal time out of busy schedules, and minimal money out of slim wallets. Thanks to one of the little known perks of $40,000 in fees, Harvard students can find themselves skimming along the Charles River free of charge, after one half-hour lesson—although more time may be required for the “really uncoordinated,” according to a member of the Weld Boathouse staff.

Sculling on the Charles is a great exercise in fun multitasking: the instructors are studly (bonus point) and it’s a great activity to do with friends before or after a picnic lunch (eating and social time: check). The atmosphere of Weld Boathouse is laid-back, with rock music pumping down from the gym upstairs, but it also boasts a rich heritage, as rowing clubs have been practicing here continuously since 1906, including in wartime.

It’s best to go to the Weld Boathouse for your free lessons between 10 a.m. and 2:30 p.m., while the water is still warmest and calmest, and before the crew team kicks you out. You can go with a friend, because “it’s easier to learn in groups,” says resident staff member Craig Salverson, who rowed crew as an undergraduate and started working at the boathouse because he missed sculling, or rowing with two oars.

Although you must start out rowing in a boat by yourself, it is actually easier to ride with two people in a boat once you get accustomed to rowing, and have learned to do things like “feather.” Note: Feathering is a rowing term for how to rotate the oars as they cycle through the water and air. It’s also harder to tip with two people, although the huskier boats, called “wherries,” which beginners use, are usually more difficult to tip than the slender, long boats used by racers. The water-weary need not fret, however, because beginners are taught in rowing simulator “tanks” until the end of the season in late October.

You don’t even have to make an appointment to learn sculling, although it’s a good idea to plan ahead and take a swim test at the MAC— no big deal for anyone who can swim 100 yards.

Those achievement-oriented souls who must have a goal to work toward even in their recreation time might be interested in the open regatta—the rower’s term for a race—that will take place on the Charles River in the spring. Apart from the joy of learning to row, the novice regatta offers an even greater incentive: “First prize is a cookie,” says Salverson.