Crew Readies for Spring

Here it is, early March under the somber skies of Cambridge, and the weather god has been particularly kind to the Harvard men's crew team. March came in with what was a pretty sorry excuse for a lion, and February was a down-right pussycat by comparison.

As the ice demons fled with the first warm spring winds, men's coach Harry Parker mumbled a paean of praise, did some extra push-ups in exultation and the boats hit the water on February 9th this year.

"We got on the river exceptionally early this year," heavyweight crew member Kurt Teske '81, said, adding. "It's a rare occurence--once in a decade, maybe, and it can only help us."

Despite the incredible good fortune, an early jump on the season does have its drawbacks. Who really wants to spend their mornings and/or afternoons huddled miserably in a wobbly shell over the repugnant Charles working up a drenching sweat in the cold drizzling rain? The crew team does, that's who, and they'll be the first to tell you.

"Morale seems to be good," Teske says. "People are putting up with the hard work...and it is hard work." To be put out on the river two hours every day (oh, you do get Sundays off), running stadiums, the dreaded ergometer battles, and plenty of conditioning is no picnic.

"It's not an awful lot of fun from January to April," admits lightweight crew member Tony Killbridge '82, but he adds. "If you're in it for fun you'd have to quit in the fall after the Head of the Charles. If you've made it this far, you'll keep going spring. It would help a little, though, if the weather was better."

The spring season--what everyone's been training for for the past eight months--is a mere four weeks away. The heavies will race first in San Diego (the first week of April) against a host of western crew powers and the East's Big Three. Harvard, Yale and Northeastern, with only Navy missing. They'll go on to tackle Navy and Yale again in the Adams Cup, foregoing the repetitive Eastern Sprints for exam period duties.

The lights, who circumvented a sticky ad-board complaint about traveling to the Easterns in the middle of exams, have all gotten individual clearance from their house senior tutors and are aready to row.

The jump an early spring gave the squads (despite the claims by one rather uncooperative groundhog that it will be a late spring) a strong advantage this year, and with a heavyweight crew four boats deep Harvard is looking confidently toward winning at San Diego. One thing's for certain: San Diego's going to look a lot better than Cambridge this time of year, no matter how they do.

The spring season--what everyone's been training for for the past eight months--is a mere four weeks away. The heavies will race first in San Diego (the first week of April) against a host of western crew powers and the East's Big Three. Harvard, Yale and Northeastern, with only Navy missing. They'll go on to tackle Navy and Yale again in the Adams Cup, foregoing the repetitive Eastern Sprints for exam period duties.

The lights, who circumvented a sticky ad-board complaint about traveling to the Easterns in the middle of exams, have all gotten individual clearance from their house senior tutors and are aready to row.

The jump an early spring gave the squads (despite the claims by one rather uncooperative groundhog that it will be a late spring) a strong advantage this year, and with a heavyweight crew four boats deep Harvard is looking confidently toward winning at San Diego. One thing's for certain: San Diego's going to look a lot better than Cambridge this time of year, no matter how they do.