HEAD OF THE CHARLES '06: Golden Girl

Crew, first and foremost, is a sport about the team. But every so often on the Charles River for the Radcliffe heavyweights, there emerges a star.

A few years ago this was Caryn Davies ’05, who led the heavyweights to a national championship in 2003 and earned silver in the 2004 Olympic eight, but now there is a new standout on the river for the Black and White—U23 world champion junior Esther Lofgren.

Following in Davies’ footsteps, Lofgren joined the United States’ U23 national team over the past summer to compete in the Junior World Championships in Belgium. After a month of training with the nation’s best, Lofgren helped the U.S. beat the best on the river, as the crew claimed gold in the varsity eight final with a 2.3-second win over Germany in the Grand Final.

And the victory was from start to finish—an impressive feat for an American squad that usually falls behind the blistering pace set by European crews at the beginnings of international races.

“A lot of the Europeans go off the line at ridiculously high stroke rates,” Lofgren said. “But our coach [Dave O’Neil] believes in long, strong strokes, and even though it was slow and steady, we still got off the line first.”

This success did not go unnoticed. As a result of the stellar work in Belgium, the senior national team extended an offer to Lofgren she could not refuse: join the team to compete in the World Championships, the second highest level of competition for a woman heavyweight.

The transition from collegiate rowing to the U23 squad was a shock to Lofgren, but joining one of the top teams in her sport blew her away.

“I think the biggest difference is in the caliber of rowers,” Lofgren said. “Coming from college to U23s—it was a whole new level, but the Worlds was something entirely different.”

Any athlete can recall a first encounter with an idol. Not many, however, have experienced that moment while in competition.

“Rowing is not like pro basketball in terms of star exposure, but there are people that I have been reading about in magazines that are legendary in the rowing community,” Lofgren said. “I was rowing right next to them—and I kind of wanted to go get their autograph.”

One of those top athletes she had rowed with before. Davies stroked the varsity eight at the World Championships, and after she led the team to a world record performance, the Harvard grad stood atop the medal stand with a gold medal. As the top rower on the top boat, Davies had found the top in another aspect—as the best heavyweight rower in the world.

“Caryn is something else,” Lofgren said. “Stroking the varsity eight at Worlds, winning the gold—this is basically saying she is, period, the best.”

Lofgren held her own during the intimidating situation. She picked up a bronze medal for her work in the women’s four with coxswain, finishing just three seconds behind gold medalist Australia, which set a world-record time of 6:25.35.

And as such a young member of the squad, Lofgren was always learning. As a result, it is most encouraging for the Radcliffe team that Lofgren remains humble and excited to keep growing. For her, the experience, in more ways than one, proved she has not seen and done everything.

“The Australians won either the single or double in Belgium and immediately did a five-minute long tribal dance on the podium,” Lofgren recalled. “But I was just psyched to see people excited about crew—the whole experience was just unbelievable.”

And in coming back to Radcliffe, her experience has increased her own skill on the water and confidence in her rowing ability.

“I think the summer was an amazing experience for her,” said women’s heavyweight varsity coach Liz O’Leary. “She’s come back here with an increased confidence and level of skill that comes from rowing at that level.”

In the same way Lofgren’s work on the national team pushed her closer to the top of her sport, O’Leary has looked to bring what Lofgren learned to the team as a whole. The goal? To bring the Black and White to that same level.

“I asked her what was the hardest workout, what did you learn, how did you learn—anything to help our team this year,” O’Leary said. “I have confidence [that] I know what it takes to be a championship team, but you can never stop learning.”

Whether the team—which suffered a blow to its position of national prominence last year, missing an NCAA bid for the first time in nine seasons—can translate Lofgren’s success into team success is yet to be seen. But what is known, and will hopefully help Radcliffe in the upcoming season, is that as with Davies before her, the crew once again has one of the top young rowers in the nation in its hand.

But success will still depend on one thing—the team.

—Staff writer Walter E. Howell can be reached at wehowell@fas.harvard.edu.