HEAD OF THE CHARLES '06: Hope Lost—and Found

Every sports fan has said it. Every sane human has mocked its truth.

But everyone still wants to believe it: this is the year.

The Radcliffe varsity lightweights are no different. But after three straight third-place finishes at the IRA National Championships and the loss of two standout captains from a year ago—Ashley Antony ’06 and Sarah Bates ’06—the road to satisfying this goal looks more difficult than ever for the Black and White.

“We think of the loss of those two captains as an opportunity,” lightweight coach Cecile Tucker says. “I think the team, the new varsity rowers, everyone is doing a great job of stepping up in the program and improving the squad.”

Yet everything always comes back to reclaiming that national championship that has eluded the crew since 1997.

But what is most difficult for the squad to swallow is not just this lack of championships, but how close the team has come. As the silvers and bronzes build up, the hope for gold, in many ways, is appearing farther and farther out of reach.

Last season provides the perfect example. Radcliffe came out on fire during the spring dual season, notching impressive victories over Georgetown in the Class of 2004 Cup, national champion Wisconsin in the Knecht Cup, and then-No. 1 Princeton in the same event.

With a No. 1 ranking intact, Radcliffe looked poised to make a run for a sixth national championship. In fact, after disappointing dual losses to Wisconsin and Princeton in recent years, last spring’s early successes spoke volumes about the potential of the 2006 lightweights.

But it was not to be, as the team ended its season with a silver medal at Eastern Sprints and yet another bronze at IRAs.

Despite the June disappointment, the year was a success on some fronts. The team’s number one ranking and second-place finish at Eastern Sprints after two prior bronzes were encouraging, but for a program so used to being at the top, the feats were mere consolation.

There are signs that the Black and White could be even better this year. The team will race two varsity eights this year, compared to one from last year, in addition to its varsity four—a mark of the team’s increased depth. And for a sport that relies on the growth of the program to produce success, bigger numbers bode well for the Black and White.

“I absolutely view the year as an upswing. I view the team as deeper than before,” Tucker says. “There are people now who look forward to stepping up and filling the shoes of the varsity members we lost. It shows the growth and speed this program has attained.”

Even with this increased depth, Radcliffe still must fill two large holes in the program, those left by Anthony and Bates. The team will especially miss the leadership and experience of Bates, who has pursued a place on the U.S. national team crew and currently races with the New York Athletic Club (NYAC).

New co-captains Lesley Burkett and Jennifer Chung seem confident in the potential of this year’s squad. Leadership lost aside, the lightweights enter 2006-2007 with the same goal in mind: make it to the winners’ dock in Camden.

It is not about what the team will miss from its past, but what it can gain this year. It is a new year: they are leaders of this team, and they want to acquire that elusive national championship this year.

“I think everyone has stepped up together,” Chung says. “We’re not trying to follow [Bates and Anthony’s] example or to live up to any pressures—we are working together as this year’s team.”

With the fall season just beginning, and the challenges of the spring still far away, the captains still are working to develop the chemistry of the team. The crew wants to build its strength and unity to prepare to take on the daunting task of the spring.

“Its not an explicit thing right now to talk about the spring with the new varsity members,” Chung says. “We want to get things running smoothly.”

But the question remains as to what makes this year the year. Strong varsity members are lost, memories of the past three years are not sweet, and the pressures of history are continual. The cards are partially stacked against the Black and White.

But there is always that hope: the hope of the fall, the hope of new beginnings.

And with a deeper crew and a renewed focus—stemming from the confidence of the new captains—maybe this belief is more warranted than people think.

This hope is always present—and always leading the team forward.

“It’s a long winter,” Burkett says. “But we always have to have that end to push us.”

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