M. Heavyweights' Buckland Excels on Waters From Coast to Coast

There are 3,049 miles separating Seattle from to Cambridge, but news travels far and fast between two of the country’s elite rowing programs.

Recently, Harvard has had the best of the University of Washington, with the men’s heavyweight crew defeating the Huskies by open water in the 2004 IRA national championships.

The awards-stand looked the same in 2003, when Harvard bested second-place Washington by just under four seconds at the IRAs in Camden, N.J.

And with a stroke of good luck, the Crimson might have just one-upped Washington again.

Former Washington varsity stroke Brodie Buckland transferred to Harvard this year, providing yet more championship experience to the Crimson varsity heavyweight crew.

Buckland stroked the Washington varsity boat that fell to Harvard at last year’s IRAs.

In 2003, he was a member of the Huskies’ freshman eight that placed fourth—the Crimson freshman boat finished third—at the national championships.

He had raced against the Harvard crew quite a bit before donning a Crimson uniform, but he didn’t know much about the program.

But after the 2004 IRAs, Buckland knew that Harvard was fast. Really fast.

The Crimson dispatched Washington by over five seconds—almost two boat lengths—in the national championship race last spring.

“I just knew they were a good team, not much else,” Buckland said. “I was a West Coast boy.”

This year, however, Buckland’s had more than enough time to learn the ropes at Newell Boathouse.

He left Washington after last season, citing Harvard’s academic opportunities as the greatest incentive for the move.

“[The decision to transfer] was purely academic,” Buckland said. “I didn’t think my academic opportunities at Washington were as good as they are at Harvard.”

In Cambridge, Buckland has found the rowing education just as unique. The Crimson’s style differs greatly from the one he picked up while rowing at Washington.

“It’s not a west-against-east thing,” Buckland said. “Everyone tries to make that distinction. It’s really between the way they’re coached at Harvard and at UW. There’s just a difference between the way the two schools row.”

The weather conditions are also different and, at times, far from perfect.

The Charles River can be brutally cold and unpredictable, often producing strong headwinds on the race course.

The Cambridge winters are harsher and last longer, leaving the oarsmen locked inside for a lengthy dry land season.

The trip to his home in Olympia, Wash., once possible by car, now requires a cross-country flight.

But in perhaps the biggest difference resulting from the move, Buckland has found himself the willing pupil of one of the sport’s most legendary coaches, Harvard’s Harry Parker.

“I read books about [Parker] after I started rowing,” Buckland said. “But I didn’t know much about him.”

But like his geographical location, Buckland’s perception about Parker has changed drastically.

“I’m very honored to have him as my coach,” Buckland said.

Parker will also benefit from Buckland’s transfer, much like the other seven rowers in this years first varsity boat.

The season is just weeks old, but Buckland has fit almost seamlessly into the first varsity lineup.

Though he switched from the stroke position he held at Washington to the six-seat, he’s had little trouble falling into the Crimson’s rhythm.

“Brodie is a great oarsmen and a great guy,” captain Aaron Holzapfel said. “He’s fitting in quite well. He’s open and receptive, and we like him.”

Buckland’s transition has worked out well for Holzapfel, one of two remaining oarsmen from last year’s varsity eight. Holzapfel sits in five seat, directly behind Buckland, and serves as his pair.

“Brodie has experience in a very competitive program,” captain AaronHolzapfel said. “And in a year where we lost 13 seniors, that’s important.”

After a dominating 2004 season that culminated in last June’s trip to the Henley Royal Regatta, the Crimson varsity graduated more than two-thirds of the 18 members from last year’s top two boats.

The young crew—there were three sophomores in this year’s varsity boat at week’s end—will benefit all the championship experience it can get after the departure of so many seasoned and valuable veterans.

“They were a really fast class last year,” Buckland said.

But Buckland knows that the spring of 2005 carries its own promise.

After trouncing Brown by nearly 10 seconds last Saturday, the young Crimson varsity boat seems poised to make another run.

“It’s never been about comparison,” he said. “Our captain [Aaron Holzapfel] and [Malcolm Howard] have kept us looking forward to a really good year.”

The “really good year” hints at hopes of another sweep of the Eastern Sprint and national championships.

But Buckland knows that the Crimson boat has yet another date with the Huskies at June’s IRAs.

This time, though, Buckland native will swap his Husky purple for crimson.

And that suits him just fine.

“I’m just going to get on the line and do what I can,” Buckland said. “It’s not about them, and it’s not about me. It’s just going to be exciting to race, as always.”

This year, though, he’ll head to the IRAs already knowing just how fast the Crimson varsity crew really is.

—Staff writer Aidan E. Tait can be reached at atait@fas.harvard.edu.