Crew clocks Yale at historic regatta

Harvard’s heavyweight crew completed the sweep against Yale this past Saturday (June 8) at the 150th anniversary of the Harvard-Yale Regatta, America’s oldest intercollegiate athletic event. The Crimson won the four-mile varsity race on the Thames River by 41.8 seconds, the largest margin in 27 years, with a time of 19:02.5. Yale finished at 19:43.8.

The victory marked the Crimson’s third straight against the Elis, and the club’s 16th in the past 18 years. Harvard now leads the fabled series, which dates back to an 1852 race on New Hampshire’s Lake Winnipesaukee, 84-53.

With the win, the Crimson caps an undefeated season, going 6-0, and are headed to the Henley Royal Regatta in England later this month.

Harvard took a half-length lead off the start before settling in at 34 strokes-per-minute. The margin grew to three lengths at the one-mile mark, stood at six lengths at the halfway point, and the Crimson methodically put their rival farther in the distance while streaking towards the finish line at Bartlett’s Cove.

It’s the Crimson’s 16th undefeated season under veteran coach Harry Parker, who has managed a 34-6 record against Yale in his 40-year Harvard career.

Prior to the varsity win, Harvard’s JV crew broke open a close race in the second mile, finishing 26 seconds ahead of Yale, while the freshmen finished four lengths ahead of the Elis after a Yale oarsman caught a disabling “crab” (submerged oar). Both the Crimson’s JV and freshman crews will join the varsity at Henley.