Between Two Boats: Faulkner Returns on the Lightweight Squad

­The women’s eight final for the 2010 World Rowing Junior Championship fell on Aug. 7, 2010. Bracing torrential downpour in Racice, Czech Republic, Kristen Faulkner—a high school senior from Homer, Alaska—kept her focus on the task at hand. Faulkner, who had started rowing just two years earlier, helped the U.S. pass Germany minutes into the race en route to a silver medal.

Fast-forward five years. This weekend, Faulkner will don the Crimson uniform as a senior member of the Harvard-Radcliffe lightweight crew team. However, not only will this be her first race in three years, it will also be her first race as a lightweight.

After a successful high school career at Phillips Academy Andover, the Alaska native entered Harvard in 2011 as a recruited heavyweight rower. That season, she sat the two position of the Crimson’s four A boat, helping Harvard claim the first-ever Ivy League Championship regatta. A month into her sophomore year, however, Faulkner left the crew team to focus on her flourishing healthcare startup.

“When I left rowing, it was not because I stopped enjoying rowing anymore,” Faulkner said. “I found it really hard to juggle rowing—a varsity sport—and computer science, and a startup. I decided I couldn’t do everything well, but I could do some things well if I really focused on them.”

Seeing her father suffer from a bad heart throughout her freshman year sparked a passion in Faulkner that drove her to co-found Prevently, a website that aims to provide one-on-one health coaching. What was once a pursuit in her free time became a job the summer before sophomore year, and eventually a big enough commitment for Faulkner to take a year off before her junior year.

In the days before she came back to Harvard in 2014, Faulkner contemplated returning to rowing.

“I remember trying on my unis because I wanted to start rowing again, but I wasn’t sure it was the right decision,” Faulkner recalled. “I really wanted to, but I wasn’t sure I could juggle it again.”

For three years after leaving the heavyweight team, Faulkner still came to the Head of the Charles to watch her friends compete. Every semester she considered returning to what—in a family of seven rowers, including her parents—had always been a huge part of her life.

As a senior, she finally decided to return to Weld Boathouse.

“I knew I’d never get the chance to row on this level again. I really missed it, and I didn’t want to be away from it anymore.” Faulkner said.

After three years away from the river, much had changed, and getting back into a rhythm took some adjustment. A workout routine that emphasized running over the rigorous strength training she had done in practices has changed her physique—causing her to switch from heavyweight to lightweight crew.

But Faulkner’s unique situation has given her more drive than ever.

“I think I came back with a lot more fire in my belly to work hard,” Faulkner said. “Having taken time off and not being as strong as I used to be, and knowing that it is my last year, gave me a sense of urgency. It’s now or never, and I have to make up for lost time.”

Being a senior walk-on has not only benefitted Faulkner, but her new teammates as well.

With only six other seniors on the roster, the squad has appreciated having an experienced presence around the boathouse.

“It’s really nice to have somebody who is fairly mature and level-headed and older around to give advice to the younger girls,” captain Ruby Emberling said.

Deciding to compete as a lightweight has yielded positive effects. At 5’6’’—on the short side for a heavyweight rower—rowing as a lightweight has allowed Faulkner to be more competitive than ever.

“[Faulkner’s] been doing so, so great,” Emberling said. “It’s been really fun to have her around…. In terms of boat speed and in terms of conversations at the dinner table, she’s a really positive force on the team.”