‘I Knew What I Signed Up For’: Elite Harvard Athletes Navigate a Delicate Balancing Act

When K. Graham Blanks ’25 — the current record-holder for Harvard’s fastest mile — committed to the College, he said he did so primarily for academic reasons, not suspecting he would go on to become one of the school’s most prolific athletes.

With the 2024 Olympics on the horizon, his academic schedule is now “definitely limited” by his training commitments as he attempts to qualify to compete in the Games.

Blanks is one of several athletes at Harvard who compete in their sport on a national or international stage while managing the academic workload of being a student. While many of these athletes said they feel satisfied with Harvard’s support of their sporting endeavors, they also pointed out the challenges of this balancing act.

Vivien P. Henz ’26, a sophomore who formerly ran for Harvard’s cross country team and now trains and competes independently, said that Harvard is a place where students are expected to take academics seriously.

Henz, who studies physics, spoke about the challenge of completing his required classwork while training.

“I love physics, but the problem is, most days I’ll dedicate five hours to track and field and that’s five hours that I can’t do psets or I can’t do revision,” Henz said.

Still, while Henz acknowledged the difficulty of his schedule, he said he was satisfied by the support he gets at Harvard for his athletic goals.

“I knew what I signed up for,” he added.

Blanks also highlighted the role of academics in his decision to compete at Harvard, pointing out that the Ivy League gives athletes the opportunity to go to “great schools.”

“You kind of shut your mouth and deal with it,” Blanks said.

College spokesperson Jonathan Palumbo wrote in a statement that the school is “committed to partnering with our student-athletes in their pursuit of excellence in academics and athletics and works closely with each student on an approach that supports them pursuing their fields of study and their performance in competition.”

“Any student with feedback on how we could best achieve these goals is encouraged to share their experience with the Athletics Department,” he added.

Jessica Z. J. Guo ’27, a Harvard fencer who is set to compete for Canada in the 2024 Olympics, said she uses the same skills she learned in high school to manage schoolwork and fencing.

“Harvard is super nice about athletics and they’re super supportive about everything,” Guo said.

Henry A. Lawson ’27, a fencer for Harvard who placed third in the men’s épée event at last month’s NCAA championship, said it has become more difficult to manage athletics and academics in college.

“It’s harder than it was in high school,” he said. “I felt that balancing academics, social, and fencing, at a pretty high level was possible, but for some reason I feel like all three of those things aren’t super possible here.”

Rémi Drolet ’23-24, a First Team All-America Harvard skier, said that at Harvard, it is difficult for students to be simultaneously dedicated to both school and athletics.

“You don’t really have time to devote yourself completely to one or the other,” Drolet said. “I think if I wasn’t at school, I’d probably be able to train a lot more and be a little bit better this year.”

Drolet also said that his goal was to “survive” his four years at college and then continue his training.

Tennis player Cooper Williams ’27, previously ranked third in the world for boys 18 and under, manages his academic commitments by planning his class schedule with athletics in mind.

“I think it comes down to picking your courses well,” Williams said. He added that “if you do have to miss, usually the teachers are pretty understanding.”

Williams said that if a teacher “isn’t understanding, it’s kind of an impasse, and you just talk to the coaches and the coaches will do their best to advocate for you.”

Joe H. Miller ’26, Harvard’s top scoring hockey player, said “it’s just difficult because you can only miss a certain amount” of class before accumulating unexcused absences.

“They start piling up and you get behind, which is never good,” he added.

On excusing athletes, Miller said he thinks “the teachers are super lenient, too, because they understand if we’re going on the road, there’s not really much we can do.”

Miller said he had brainstormed with his teammates on ways t0 keep up with missed classes, and said that “twice a week, having a tutor from the school come to the rink for an hour or two” before and after practice could be beneficial.

Lawson shared that he always copies his coaches on absence emails to professors, but that “it’s really just an intimidation tactic. They don’t really ever get involved.”

On his coaches’ support, Lawson said “they want to help you, because if you do better, if you’re not worried about your classes or whatever, then presumably you’ll compete better for them.”

Matthew Linsky ’26, another Harvard fencer, said he hasn’t experienced any issues with missing class for tournaments. He noted that Harvard even let him take his exam in absentia with his coach proctoring last semester when he was at a tournament in Madrid.

The same accommodation was somewhat more difficult for Henz to obtain, though his petition was ultimately approved. He called the process of gaining University permission to take his exams this semester in absentia an “uphill battle” and described having to write essays explaining why he had to miss his finals.

Blanks said he wishes people at Harvard “valued athletes a little more,” adding that he thought athletics helps “make a good college what it is.”

“A lot of these other schools with good athletics are a little more well rounded than us because they provide support to athletes, amongst other things,” Blanks said. “And I think that actually fosters a school spirit that we don’t really have here.”

Blanks also spoke about the value of recruited athletes at Harvard.

“Harvard brings people in that are talented in different areas,” he said. “And it just happens that some people here are talented in things that weren’t in the classroom.”

—Staff writer Jo B. Lemann can be reached at jo.lemann@thecrimson.com. Follow her on X @Jo_Lemann.

—Staff writer Tyler J.H. Ory can be reached at tyler.ory@thecrimson.com. Follow him on X @tyler_ory.