June 10, 2005

New London, CT - With most programs closing up shop for the summer now that the regular season, Sprints, and IRAs have been concluded, the rowing world turns its eyes to New London, Connecticut, for the 140th chapter of the nation's oldest intercollegiate sporting event, the Harvard-Yale Regatta. This rivalry, the traditional end to the collegiate rowing season, dates back more than a century and a half to a two-mile race, won by Harvard, held August 3, 1852 on Lake Winnepesaukee in New Hampshire. To this day, it is the longest-running intercollegiate rivalry - and with all its tradition, perhaps one of the richest.

Download Harvard's Harvard-Yale Regatta Media Supplement (with boatings)

While most races these days are 2000 meters in length, the Crimson and Eli varsities depart from that "sprint" distance to battle along a four-mile playing field which presents a true test of each oarsman's endurance, character, and strength. In fact, this race is the longest of its kind in America, and three times the distance of a normal race (each crew will take approximately 700 strokes to complete the course). The two-mile combination and freshman races and three-mile junior varsity contest are nearly as exhausting.

This year's schedule is focused in the late morning, with the freshmen starting at 10:15, and the 2Vs getting underway at 11 a.m. The day's feature race is scheduled for a noon start, heading upstream toward Bartlett's Cove, finishing beneath the rolling green hills of Espinoza's Farm and directly across from Harvard's Red Top headquarters.

The 140th chapter has several subplots, as Harvard seeks to cap its fourth consecutive undefeated regular season, while the Elis are looking to mount a challenge to their archrival and derail the Crimson's string of victories. Harvard has swept the regatta with victories in the varsity, JV, and freshmen races for four consecutive seasons. The last time that was accomplished was by Harry Parker's Harvard crews from 1971-75.

Harry Parker's varsity has a different look than his two most recent championship eights. Even with six new oarsmen and a new cox in the 2005 incarnation, however, the results have been strikingly similar. The Harvard varsity has been perfect so far on the spring with a 6-0 record in dual races, with wins over Northeastern, Brown, Princeton, MIT, Penn, and Navy. During the dual season, its closest margin was a 6.4-second victory over Princeton in the Compton Cup; its largest a 17.1 second victory over Navy in the Adams Cup.

At Eastern Sprints, Harvard won its 24rd title in history--and third straight-- with a course-record time in the Grand Finals (5:29.52). It followed that up with its third straight IRA Regatta gold-medal performance, edging Princeton by three seats at the finish.

The Crimson varsity consists of two seniors, three juniors, three sophomores, and a senior coxswain. Only two oarsmen return from last year's National Championship entry: captain (and five-seat) Aaron Holzapfel, who rows in the five seat, and seven-man Malcolm Howard. Each is enjoying his third season in Harvard's top boat, and both own four gold medals from Sprints (three in the 1V, and one as part of the freshman entry in 2002) in addition to their three National Championship medals.

Junior stroke Adam Kosmicki is the only oarsman who rowed in the JV boat a year ago, while classmate Morgan Henderson sees his first Thames race since the 2003 freshman two-miler. Three of the bow four - bowman Nick Baker, two-seat Andrew Boston, and three-seat Toby Medaris were all in the freshman entry which won IRA silver and Sprints gold in 2004. Rowing in his first Thames River action today will be junior Brodie Buckland, a transfer from the University of Washington. Buckland stroked the Huskies' varsity entry to a silver medal at the IRA Regatta in 2004.

Below are some of the fun facts associated with this rivalry.

• Today's race is the 140th of the series and the 118th on the Thames. Harvard leads the rivalry, 86-53, including a 69-48 edge in New London.

• This is the 127th anniversary of the first Regatta in New London. That race took place on June 28, 1878, and was won by Harvard.

• The last non-New London race occurred on May 18, 1974, on Boston's Charles River.

• This is the 60th consecutive year Harvard and Yale are rowing each other. The last time they didn't meet was 1945 during World War II.

• Both head coaches are Penn graduates. Harvard's Harry Parker graduated in 1957, while Yale's John Pescatore completed his studies in 1986. Parker was part of the Quakers' 1955 Eastern Sprints champion varsity (that went on to capture the Grand Challenge Cup at Henley); Pescatore rowed for Penn's 1986 Sprints-winning crew.

• Harvard has swept the regatta in each of the last four seasons, a feat not accomplished since the mid-70's when Harvard recorded five straight sweeps (1971-75). Yale last swept the Regatta in 1996, while Harvard did it in both 1997 and 1998.

• Last year, Harvard took the varsity race, 18:42.1 to 19:06.8, to complete a sweep of the Regatta and a 6-0 dual season. The Crimson won the 2V race, 13:46.1 to 14:16.4, the 1F 8:46.1 to 8:50.0.

• This will be the 102nd freshman race in the series. Harvard leads this rivalry, 62-38-1. In the last ten years, the Crimson has won seven frosh races, with Yale taking three. The one tie came in 1902.

• Harvard now leads the second varsity series, 67-35, which includes eight straight victories.

• Harvard has won 15 straight upstream races and leads the upstream series, 35-22. Yale has captured the last two downstream races, held in 1996 and 1999. Today's race is upstream.

• Harvard holds the upstream record with its time of 18:41.9 in 1995. Yale's fastest upstream time (18:45.5) was also posted that year. The Crimson set the downstream--and Thames River course--mark of 18:22.4 in 1980.

• Last year's time for the Crimson - 18:42.1 - was the second fastest in an upstream race in Regatta history, and the fourth-fastest time overall.

• Some of the closest finishes in Regatta history have gone Yale's way. The Elis recorded a one-fifth of a second win in 1914 and captured the 1962 contest by one second.

• This is the first year in Regatta history that the races will take place on June 11. It has been held as early as May 22 (1976, 1977) and as late as August 3 - the date of the inaugrual Regatta in 1852.

• These crews saw each other at last month's Eastern Sprints and again at last week's IRA Championships. At Sprints, Harvard's heavyweights took the varsity Grand Finals for the third straight year, while Yale improved from a ninth-place finish in 2004 to finish sixth. Yale was an impressive third in the second varsity race, where Harvard's JV was fifth. Harvard's freshman entry took third, while the Elis were tenth.

• The Harvard-Yale football contest, known simply as "The Game," will have its 122nd playing on Saturday, November 19, in New Haven. Harvard won last year's affair, 35-3, its fourth straight win over the Elis. Yale, however, still leads the series, 64-49-8.