When Foes Became Friends

­There was once a time when thousands packed London’s White City Stadium—one of the iconic sporting venues of the early 20th century—to watch the athletes of the Harvard track and field team compete alongside their compatriots from Yale against the combined forces of Oxford and Cambridge.

Today, the biannual meet, described by its hosts as “the oldest continuous amateur athletic competition in the world,” no longer contains that same luster. The crowds have dwindled, and the meet itself is no longer hosted in historic arenas like White City Stadium and New York’s Berkeley Oval; instead, it alternates between the four institutions.

The decrease in popularity has coincided with changing attitudes toward the role of athletics at universities on both sides of the Atlantic. Although times and distances have improved dramatically over the years, the athletes in the meet no longer have so solid a claim to athletic royalty in England and America.

Despite all the changes, the meet still holds a special place on the calendar and in the hearts of student-athletes: It is the only opportunity for them to compete alongside their rivals while engaging in new, broadened social and cultural interactions.

A CHALLENGE ACCEPTED

Continuing over a century of biannual trans-Atlantic competitions, the Crimson and Bulldogs will suit up as one once again this summer. By Courtesy of Harvard Athletic Communications

After the Elis—a national track and field powerhouse in the late 19th century—lost to the Oxonians in London in 1894 and defeated the Cantabrigians in New York the following year, Harvard teamed up with its Ancient Eight rival to challenge a joint British conglomerate. According to John L. Thorndike ’49, a former hammer thrower for Harvard who later served as chair of the graduate committee that oversees the American side of the event, it was then that the meet became a formal event.

“Some enthusiastic alumni from both colleges got excited about [the meet] after the Yale team had had a very successful trip,” Thorndike said. “[They] decided to have a joint team in the future, and that’s the way it’s been for…[more than] 40 [meets].”

The catalyst for the competition originated in England: The chancellors of Oxford and Cambridge issued a challenge to the American representatives at Harvard and Yale, who promptly accepted.

The biannual nature of the meet has been interrupted at various points, most notably during the decade-long gap between 1911 and 1921 due to tensions surrounding World War I. But since then, the event has occurred with greater regularity, giving the pool of Harvard and Yale athletes the unique experience to travel across the pond and partake in the culture of their competitors before meeting head-to-head for bragging rights every two years.

When the competition first began, each meet was a highly anticipated and closely watched event. The very first running in 1899 drew 8,000 spectators, including the Prince of Wales, the American ambassador, and the leader of the House of Commons.

The Boston Herald reported every detail of the meet, beginning at the moment the Harvard and Yale athletes set sail for England. According to The Crimson, the Herald's first headline, “College Team Sails. Harvard and Yale Off for England as One. Wildly Cheered as the Steamer Moves Out,” depicted a scene of fan supporting the rival athletes at they were sent off towards the British Isles.

The 1937 edition of the meet saw the Harvard-Yale squad fall to its British competitors by a 7-5 total score. By Courtesy of Harvard Athletic Communications

AMERICAN DOMINATION

The early editions of the competition were largely close battles: The Oxonians and Cantabrigians came away with a 5-4 victory over the Americans in the very first competition. Over the next 60 years, the British side would win eight more times, while the Crimson and Bulldogs took seven meets of their own.

The 1959 edition of the meet highlighted that parity: The Crimson’s report of the 1959 meet records that “the British performers were surprisingly inept in the field events” but that “the wispy English distance runners ran circles around their larger American opponents.”

But that meet—which ended in an 8-7 victory for the Americans—would mark the beginning of a shift in the balance in power, which has tilted in favor of the Ivies in nearly every facet of the competition. This dominance has been reflected even in the distance events, in which the British had long been considered superior.

Since 1959, the Oxford/Cambridge team has emerged victorious only twice, in 1993 and in 2009, against 22 victories for the Crimson and Bulldogs. This can be traced, in part, to the divergent paths that athletic endeavors have taken within American and British university culture.

While American universities like Harvard and Yale recruit athletes from around the nation, their British counterparts are typically constrained to the depth of their respective club teams, having chosen to focus their university resources on academic endeavors as opposed to funding full-fledged athletic programs.

Whereas American universities are able to recruit the best athletes dedicated to their respective sports from around the nation, and these competitors go into their collegiate careers knowing they will dedicate time and effort to their crafts, the system is different in Britain, where the role of athletic clubs is more informal.

Instead of recruited undergraduates from around the British Isles, the teams are composed of students who wish to be a part of the club. This often means that squads will be composed of people from a variety of ages, experience levels, and backgrounds. Fifth-year senior Hannah Mayer—who traveled to England in 2011—recalls one British athlete in particular who embodied this.

“There’s a mix of people considering on the team at Oxford and Cambridge, they can have graduate students, Ph.D. students, really old people,” Mayer said. “There [was] a guy...he was an almost 40-year-old guy who threw hammer…. He was so strong, and he had rowed for Cambridge…. He was such a character.”

Additionally, unlike their American counterparts—who spend millions of dollars funding recruiting trips, professional coaches’ salaries, and travel—the British teams are coached by volunteers, and they do not receive money from the English schools despite competing under their names. Thus, track and field is seen as more of an extracurricular on the side of academics, unlike in the United States, where recruited athletes balance academics and athletics side by side.

“We have just a lot more infrastructure,” Saretsky said. “Something I believe very strongly is that academics and athletics go hand in hand, and they really complement each other.”

MORE THAN JUST A TRACK MEET

While Oxford and Cambridge have struggled to obtain success in recent years, both teams still put aside any rivalries in order to fiercely compete against the Harvard-Yale contingent of athletes.

The Achilles Club—founded in 1920 and made up of past and present members of the Oxford and Cambridge University Athletics Clubs—sponsors the meet for the English sides; the arrangement is one made less out of love and more out of pragmatism, but it is also a sign of the cooperation that can emerge even between bitter adversaries.

According to those involved, the social component of the meet—the ability to bond and become friends with not only conference foes but international rivals as well—has become one of the most important aspects of the experience.

“What’s important is the transformative experience of interacting with our peers, our brethren across the pond that are in similar academic institutions and also share a passion for a sport we care so much about,” Saretsky said.

When the British competitors stay in the United States, they are afforded the opportunity to stay in the Ivy host school’s dorms; this allows them to briefly immerse themselves in the daily lives of their American counterparts and gain a small taste of what their collegiate experience is like. The experience is very similar when the Americans set course for England as well.

In 1959, the British hosts were particularly welcoming in their invitations to the Harvard and Yale students to explore London’s myriad watering holes, though some Americans perceived the gesture as an attempt at mental warfare.

While intimidation might have been the goal of some earlier interactions, however, the cultural exchange between the two sides has always served as a highlight of the meet. Thorndike agreed, arguing that the biggest takeaway from the event throughout its history has not been the nationalistic bragging rights, the trophy, or even the competition itself.

This attitude and appreciation for the social aspect of the meet has remained constant throughout its history.

In a recap of the very first meet, the July 24, 1899, issue of The Times made note of the attendance made by then-U.S. Ambassador to the United Kingdom Joseph H. Choate at a banquet following the meet.

“[Choate] had learnt that afternoon that representatives of the two nations could engage in a heated and ardent controversy and fight it out and yet be good friends,” the Times said.

FRATERNIZING WITH THE ENEMY

One of the most noteworthy aspects of the competition is the opportunity for Harvard athletes not only to compete against British athletes, but to train, eat, and live with their Yale counterparts when they visit the British Isles.

While the new interactions—in light of the bitter rivalry the schools are part of—have often led to awkward or competitive situations between the two Ivy squads, they also serve to develop new friendships.

Harvard and Yale coaches and athletes celebrate around the American flag during the 1995 edition of the meet. The 12-8 win for the Crimson and Bulldogs began a streak of seven straight wins for the American side. By Courtesy of Harvard Athletic Communications

Based on her own experience, Mayer agreed, saying that the dynamic between the Yale and Harvard athletes was not one of animosity, but rather one of support and friendship.

“We had them train with us everyday, throwing, lifting, and everything,” Mayer said. “It was a really fun experience. We got to know each other really well, and even during the competition...we’re all cheering for the Yale team as well as the Harvard team because we had a united uniform.”

Following the competition, the athletes from all four teams come together to enjoy a banquet provided by the host schools. The event gives athletes one last chance to interact with one another as the competitors from the four teams are arranged such that they only sit next to athletes from other schools.

Though the banquets end after the American teams return back home, the new friendships made overseas tend to carry over. Since Harvard and Yale compete against each other annually, the Crimson athletes get more opportunities to see their Yale compatriots. While the Elis are still considered bitter rivals on the track, there is a new element of friendship involved in seeing them again.

“Just because we’re from rival schools, it doesn’t really mean anything,” Mayer said. “You can relate to one another really easily, so once you just get over that hump that ‘this person is from Yale’...they’re just one of the team[mates] and one of your friends.”

DWINDLING IMPORTANCE

Though the athletes are able to gain a valuable experience, the media attention surrounding the meet has disappeared, and the nationalistic fervor is gone too. Whereas the pride of American athletics was once at stake, there is now much less on the line.

Thorndike himself has witnessed the dwindling importance of the competition over the last few decades.

“It’s not vital anymore, [but] it once was quite important when the pride of the different teams was important,” Thorndike said. “The main point of it [now] is [that] participants... get a chance to travel and see the other part of the world.”

In addition, the athletic quality—in relation to the rest of the nation—on display at the event has dwindled since its heyday in the early 1900s.

Though the schools hosted a number of collegiate athletes who competed at an elite level as late as the mid-20th century—such as Harvard’s Ned Gourdin ’21, who set a world record in the long jump at the 1921 meet, and Crimson hammer thrower and two-time Olympian Sam Felton ’48—there has been a shift in athletic power over the years. While Harvard has made splashes in recruiting recently, most elite athletes who go on to be Olympians take their talents to Power Five conferences such as the SEC or Pac-12.

Today’s landscape contrasts to that which the athletes competing in the first edition of the meet found themselves in; Harvard and Yale produced four medal-winning athletes at the 1896 Athens Olympics just three years prior to the meet.

Harvard-Yale and Oxford-Cambridge athletes begin a race in one of the more recent transatlantic competitions. The event, which has been planned as a biannual occurrence, has been interrupted a few times such as a decade-long gap from 1911 to 1921 due to the tensions around World War II. By Courtesy of Harvard Athletic Communications

“Back in the 1890s and 1900s, two or three competitors from each team, Harvard and Yale, were on the Olympic teams,” Thorndike said. “Now they no longer are because people that can do those times and distances don’t come to Harvard and Yale…. The same in England, there’s very few Oxford and Cambridge people on the British [Olympic] team.”

Saretsky said he believes that the decreased attention towards the event is correlated with the diminished spotlight on track and field as a whole. With track and field becoming a sport spotlighted only during the Olympics, it lacks the national audience required to garner fanfare.

“Many years ago, the stadium would be filled for a track meet, and that’s obviously no longer the case,” Saretsky said. “Across the U.S.—and globally—our sport has really become an Olympic sport where it’s once every four years that we’re put under the spotlight.”

While the competition might not carry the same weight it once did in terms of athletic prowess, the spirit and social interactions associated with the meet have not diminished.

Ambassador Choate’s observation of friendship has been preserved in the face of the dwindling attention which both the event and the sport have received recently. This has allowed generations of Crimson athletes to obtain a unique and exciting experience which very few collegiate athletes have a chance to receive.

“I think it’s awesome to be a part of all the history and the tradition,” Saretsky said. “We’re very fortunate in our sport that we have the opportunity to have this sort of experience.”

—Staff writer Julio Fierro can be reached at julio.fierro@thecrimson.com.

—Staff writer Franklin R. Li can be reached at franklin.li@thecrimson.com.