Forever Young on the Water

More than any other sporting event at Harvard, the Head of the Charles has come to embody the tradition, the prestige, and the permanence of what it means to be a Harvard athlete.

After 46 years, the regatta has not only served as an intersection for much of the rowing world, as nearly 8,000 athletes from across the globe descend on Cambridge every fall, but it has also come to serve as a crossroad for Harvard’s past, present, and, ultimately, future.

In an event that has become a familiar occurrence at the Head of the Charles—the Alumnae Eight race—the 2010 Radcliffe crew will witness its predecessors man their boats once more in a race down the Charles.

The alumnae will be represented by two teams; one team will be composed of nine alumnae who have graduated within the last 10 years, while a second team will be composed of nine senior alumnae, all of whom are 50 to 70 years old.

And in what promises to be an exciting race, former Radcliffe rowers will once again chase their own records and some of their old competitors down the 3.1-mile course on the Charles.

For many of the alumnae participating in tomorrow’s race, the Head of the Charles serves as a continuation of a lifetime of crew. Some former athletes have added to their Radcliffe crew legacies by taking their talents to the Olympic level, while others have also had their post-collegiate experiences shaped by crew in one way or another.

The experiences of individuals such as Nelia Newell ’79, who rowed for Radcliffe and is the mother of captain Will Newell and sophomore Alex Newell—both members of the lightweight men’s team—reinforce the lasting effect Radcliffe crew has on its athletes. For Newell, crew has not only become a familiar part of her personal life through her two sons, it has become a central facet in her professional life as well. After graduation, Newell took up a position as crew coach for the Winsor School, an all-girls’ private high school in Boston. But this weekend, the talented alumna is ready to get back on the water herself.

“First of all, you’re like, ‘30 years disappears, this is great!’,” Newell says. “Then about six strokes later, you’re like, ‘What in the world do I think I’m doing?’ It’s fun. This is also great when you’re coaching high school kids, because it’s something they can look at and go, ‘Oh, my coach still races, my parents still race, this isn’t just something for high school or college kids, this is a sport for life. Being an athlete isn’t something that ends when you’re 25.’”

While many of the alumnae racing this weekend may not have taken crew into their professional careers, the Alumnae Eight race will still have additional meaning to them.

“The Head of the Charles is a really unique race, at least for the rowing community,” says Radcliffe crew alumna Sarah Moore ’09. “It’s all about the thrill of competition, but for us graduates, it is as much, if not more, of a reunion than a race. This is the one big race that pretty much everyone makes an effort to come back, and for me, it will be just [as much] about seeing former teammates and friends as it will be about 3.1 miles of rowing.”

The tight-knit camaraderie that rowing fosters among past and present members of Radcliffe crew has also created a strong level of support and involvement among the crew alumnae network.

Despite being spread out throughout the country and the world, many within the Black and White community manage to find ways to help and pay back financially.

“There is a proud tradition in being an alumna of the Radcliffe crew programs,” Moore says. “I think the Radcliffe alumnae are very interested in keeping track of how the current team is doing, because it’s such a part of your life when you are in school...We benefited so much from the largesse of the alumnae in my years. They paid for the trips to Florida every year, which allowed us to get out of Boston and get in some rowing time. So when you become an alumna yourself, that’s something that you think about a lot, giving back to the program.”

As another Head of the Charles regatta nears, and athletes and alumnae alike prepare once more for another race through Cambridge, what remains striking to many of them is the seemingly fleeting nature of time.

“All of a sudden, you’re rowing behind the same person you rowed behind four years in college, and it’s fun,” Newell says. “You don’t really train for it. But you get up onto the starting line with your black and white oars, and you’re coming up to the BU [boathouse] with the starter saying, ‘Radcliffe, you’re on the course.’ And it’s like 30 years disappears.”