Radcliffe Looks Up to Coach O’Leary

It was the night before the varsity eight race that would determine the 2003 women’s rowing national championship. Teammates Caryn Davies ’04-’05 and Anna Brock ’03 came up to Radcliffe heavyweights coach Liz O’Leary to give their final words in preparation for the race.

“Liz, we’re going to win it tomorrow,” the teammates said. “We’re going to do it. We’re going to win it.”

And the next day they were champions. For the 25-year veteran coach, it cemented a long life of dedication to the sport she came to love in college.

“I started rowing for the first time in college,” O’Leary says. “I had done other sports in high school but rowing was something different from the norm, so I thought I would try something new.”

Little did she know, just four years later, after graduating from the University of New Hampshire, she would be competing for the U.S. National Team in the 1976 Summer Olympics.

“The 1976 games was my first international competition,” O’Leary says. “And to be honest, I had no idea what I was getting myself into. But it was truly inspiring to see all the athletes in the Olympic village, coming from all across the world with different languages and different colored uniforms. And I was one of them.”

O’Leary returned to the U.S. team for the 1980 Olympics but did not compete due to the U.S. boycott of the games. Her next international competition would be out of the water as a coach instead.

“After I was done competing, I started coaching at the University of New Hampshire,” O’Leary says. “I also began coaching on the national level [at the 1988 Olympics and for seven World Championships].”

In 1986, O’Leary came to Radcliffe after hearing a fellow member of the athletic department speak at a coaching seminar.

“One of the real moments that made me realize that this was the place I wanted to coach was when I went to a seminar for coaching development,” O’Leary says. “[Women’s basketball coach] Kathy Delaney-Smith was the featured speaker, and she was so inspiring and so motivating. [She] just made me feel like ‘I want to go where she is’, and that was a real strong calling card to me to come here.”

“With everything she has been through,” O’Leary says. “She is my hero.”

Since coming to Harvard, O’Leary has proven her coaching abilities; she has led the Radcliffe squad to 12 appearances in the NCAA Championships in the 14-year history of the event. In addition to winning the national championship in 2003, O’Leary was also awarded the Collegiate Rowing Coaches Associations Division I Coach of the Year.

“The entire experience has been great,” O’Leary says. “The thing that I have enjoyed the most is the people that I have interacted with over the years, whether it be teammates or the athletes that I have been able to coach.”

“It has been especially rewarding to coach the women here at Harvard who are truly committed to being a true student-athlete,” O’Leary continues. “Learning the balance of academics and athletics, what they can accomplish, testing their limits, developing their talent. It’s amazing to work with the athletes here and see all they can achieve.”

Even with no shortage of accomplishments on her own resume, O’Leary has been described by many close to her as one of the most humble people you will meet.

“You would never know everything she has done,” says son Matt O’Leary, a sophomore on the men’s lightweight team. “She doesn’t hang up her medals or brag about it; she is incredibly humble.”

For co-captain Olivia Coffey, O’Leary played a key role in her decision to come to Harvard.

“She has this energy about her that is so warm and loving but yet at the same time very competitive,” Coffey says. “She cares just as much about how we develop as people as how we develop on the water. And everyone around her just wants to compete to the best of their abilities.”

“She’s the best of the best,” fellow co-captain Rachel Rauh concurs. “Everyone from day one completely believes in her and her coaching style.”

And to O’Leary, everyone has the capability of being the best they can be, no matter what path one takes.

“Winning is not an easy thing to do, but that’s our goal every year,” O’Leary says. “More than that though, it is to be as successful as we can be. That’s what life is all about: making the boat in your lane go as fast as it can.”