Harvard Lights Make History and Heavies Earn Victory at Eastern Sprints

The Harvard Lightweight Rowing team continued its fairytale run at the Eastern Sprints, where the team swept the event, winning every race it competed in. This represents the first time that a lightweight team swept the event since 1998. Similarly, the Heavyweight team also dominated the event, with its first varsity eight boat winning for the first time since 2014.

Perfection for the Lights

The day started for the lights with the varsity four, a four person boat that took on the same 2000-meter course as all of the eight man boats. Fielding a novice crew — none of whom had more than a few years of rowing experience — made them unpredictable according to Head Coach Billy Boyce.

“We just don’t know what to expect from them, so that was a really pleasant surprise,” he said.

Next came the third varsity eight. Harvard hadn’t won this event since the third varsity eight race replaced the “freshman eight” race over ten years ago, and the team was ranked fifth heading into the event. It had also previously lost to every team it was competing against.

That boat is under additional hardship, often having to replace injured members of the higher ranked varsity boats. Even that morning, the third varsity boat had a substitution, making it an emotional moment to see the boat immediately take the lead over Princeton and keep it for the duration of the race.

“The third win boat was very special for us,” Boyce said. “Those guys have been through a lot of bumps this season. They hung tough, they went out there, and they rode their hearts out.”

Conversely, the first and second varsity teams were the heavy favorites, both sailing their way into multi-second victories. The first varsity boat continued its nearly two year long undefeated streak by winning this event and throwing their coxswain in the water.

But there were still some nerves going into race day.

Freshman Ian O'Riley in the second varsity boat explained, “This was months of work, all culminating here. So I was nervous because of the race and what it means.”

“We came off the line and the wind hit pretty hard, which jumped guys, but we were really well held together. The composure was there all the way through the race,” he added.

For senior Brahm Erdmann, it was more of an emotional moment.

“I am genuinely at a loss for words and I am just really proud of my team. Unless they’re here up close, people don’t see the amount of work that goes into this is unbelievable,” he said. “When I came in as a first year, we had one of our worst years ever, and every year since then has been an improvement. I have been so lucky to have the people on the team today.”

Victory for the Heavies

For the heavyweight rowing team, Sunday was a key victory as its season progressed. Its first, second, and third varsity eight boats all emerged victorious, while the fourth varsity eight boat and the varsity four boat both took second place.

For the fourth varsity eight boat, it was heartbreak as they came just a half second short of Yale. But, two second places weren’t enough to shake up the team’s decisive victory. Head Coach Charlie Butt was elated at their performance from top of the roster down.

“It has been quite a while, so we’re delighted with the way that everyone showed up and performed. This was an outstanding commitment from the students,” he said.

But, despite starting the race neck and neck with Dartmouth, the 1V team knew they would emerge victorious.

“From how we've been performing this season and how we were feeling this weekend, we knew we had it. We put everything together and dug deep and got the win,” senior bow seat Jack Dorney said.

Both Butt and Dorney think that the first-in-a-decade win will propel them to victory through the rest of their championship season. The Heavyweight Crew team competes at the IRA nationals and its Historic Harvard-Yale race before their season ends.

“I think we need to just keep doing what we're doing, keep our heads down, keep our heads focused on the goal, be process driven, and stay positive all the way to IRAs and Harvard-Yale,” Dorney said.

“Everything's going to be ratcheted up, so we need to take stock, regroup, and move on to the next challenge,” Coach Butt added.

– Staff Writer Thomas Harris can be reached at thomas.harris@thecrimson.com