Spring Season Begins in Earnest for M. Crew

Flash back one year ago. The Harvard men’s heavyweight crew entered the spring season the uncontested favorite to win its second consecutive national championship.

The first varsity fulfilled the promise, trouncing second-place Washington by almost five seconds.

The second varsity brought home a silver medal—and that was just the beginning.

Over the summer, the varsity eight advanced to the Grand Challenge Cup race of the Henley Royal Regatta, falling to the Dutch national team by two-thirds of a boatlength.

That same Dutch national team later captured a silver medal at the 2004 Olympics in Athens.

Twelve months later, the varsity is without 13 rowers who graduated after the 2004 season.

Captain Aaron Holzapfel and senior Malcolm Howard are the only two returning members of last year’s eight, and the second varsity boat lost six rowers as well.

There are no more proclamations that the Crimson will walk to another national title.

Some might even doubt that Harvard will be in the mix at the 2005 International Rowing Association (IRA) National Championships.

Naysayers, however, have no place in Newell Boathouse. The underdog mentality suits the varsity crew just fine.

“A lot was expected from us last year, and that burden’s been removed this season,” Holzapfel said. “The past is behind us, and we’re excited about [this] opportunity we have.”

The heavyweights open their season at home this Saturday against Brown in a dual race for the Stein Trophy. Last year, the seasoned varsity boat dispatched the Bears by over nine seconds—three boat lengths—and the second varsity claimed a four-second victory as well.

This year, the race will be a valuable benchmark for a young Harvard team as it begins dual competition.

“Brown is always strong and we expect a great race,” Holzapfel said. “We’ll lay it all on the line, and the best crew will win.”

An April 16th race at Princeton, which took fifth at last year’s IRAs, also looms on the schedule.

But the Crimson knows that its biggest tests await in May and June, when the heavyweights will look to defend their Eastern Sprints and IRA titles.

Perennial contenders Washington, Princeton, Cal, and Navy will be back in the mix again, all gunning to dethrone the two-time defending champion Harvard boat.

After two open water victories at the national championships, however, the Crimson isn’t about to relinquish hope of a three-peat.

“Any national championship is special,” junior six-seat Brodie Buckland said. “I know that for [Howard] and [Holzapfel] it would be incredible—three years in a row. But for now, you do what you can to go as fast as you can at the end of the season.”

HARVARD LIGHTWEIGHT CREW

On New Year’s Eve this year, the Harvard varsity lightweight crew had reason to celebrate.

The end of 2004 meant one very good thing for the Crimson: in every odd year since 1991, the Harvard lightweights have won the IRAs. And those even years? They haven’t won once.

“Everyone in the league is looking for Harvard to take it [the IRA crown] back because it’s an odd year,” first varsity coxswain Felix Yu said.

The attitude in Newell Boathouse is the same.

Last year’s freshman eight and second varsity eight took home first place at the Eastern Sprint Championships, and the first varsity eight finished second.

“This is a very deep team,” first varsity five seat Marc Luff said. “We’re going to have a very strong crew across the board.”

Earlier this season, the Crimson began 2005 in typical odd-year fashion at CRASH-Bs, the annual indoor rowing championships held at Roxbury Community College.

The event attracts the best rowers from all over the world, and this February, Harvard rowers finished 1-2-3 in the collegiate lightweight division. Senior Dave Stephens finished first, freshman Moritz Hafner followed in second, and sophomore Luff placed third.

The lightweights hope that dominance extends to the water, and the depth of this year’s team makes Harvard legitimate title contenders for each of its varsity and freshman boats.

“We have very fast people at all levels,” Yu said.

“That’s made the entire program a lot faster and will make us a lot harder to beat as a team,” he added.

The lightweights will get their first test this weekend against Penn and Cornell tomorrow and Columbia, Delaware, and Georgetown on Sunday. Last year, all five lightweight boats posted sweeps against those five opponents.

“This weekend is especially special because we’re going to be racing almost rhalf the league,” Yu said.

“And think we’re going to do very well. We want to test our speed against some good crews that aren’t likely to break down,” he added.

The Crimson will face its biggest test against perennial lightweight power Navy, which defeated the varsity boat by one second in last year’s dual meet on the Severn River.

The Midshipmen would best second-place Harvard by three seconds in the 2004 Eastern Sprints Championships and then again by 11 seconds at the IRAs.

After winning IRAs in 2003—a race in which Navy took second in the petite final—the Crimson finished a frustrating fifth and the Midshipmen captured the title in 2004.

But that was 2004, another even year that proved unfriendly to Harvard

“We have some returning members of the crew of 2003 who placed fifth in 2005,” Yu said. “They want to win it back.”

The Navy crew, however, is still the boat to beat, and Harvard has its eyes set on a dual race rematch with the Midshipmen, scheduled for April 23rd on the Charles River.

It being an odd year, and the Crimson fielding its deepest squad in several seasons, Harvard has every reason to be confident.

“We’re ready to go,” Luff said. “We’ve done plenty of preparation.”

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