Harvard-Radcliffe Lightweight Rowing Retains Beanpot

The No. 1 Harvard-Radcliffe lightweight rowing team continued its dominant streak on the Charles. With the win, the program will hold onto the coveted Beanpot for another year, bringing it safely back home to Weld Boathouse.

With the V8+ having won every race entered this season, the Black and White entered the day’s racing as clear favorites. The race was the squad’s first home competition since it won the Head of the Charles Regatta back in October of last year. It quickly became evident that the spring Charles River conditions were a far cry from the calmer waters of fall.

“The conditions came out at us a little hard, and I think all the teams did a really nice job of handling that,” said assistant coach Kate Kelly.

Despite treacherous conditions, the Black and White’s V8+ rowed hard to beat No. 6 MIT, Boston University, and Sacred Heart. Taking the win by 17 seconds over BU, the Harvard-Radcliffe boat was deftly guided through the waves by senior coxswain Lilly Ranalli, whose line allowed the crew to cut swiftly through the course.

“It’s important, I think, when you have a home race, to keep it as professional as possible, and continue to execute and simulate the feeling of a championship race, even when you’re on some familiar water. That sense of professionalism can be difficult when you’re on a waterway that you row on every single day,” Kelly added.

Harvard-Radcliffe’s V8+ was not alone in its success down at the Charles River Basin. The V4+ was victorious in a nail-biting contest against MIT, BU, Sacred Heart, and Gordon College. While the crew did take the lead early on in the race, MIT stayed tight to its bow the entire 2000 meters. This allowed the Black and White to push off its chaseboat and show its mettle as a crew, eventually crossing the line two full seconds ahead of the Engineers.

Also competing in its second race of the season was the N4+ crew, which, despite not taking home the win, gained valuable insights into racecraft. As three of the four rowers in the crew are freshmen walk-on students, it is easy to see how challenging conditions could have a detrimental impact on the race. In a sport as technical as rowing, every slight movement and imbalance costs time, and as such, the team will want to develop its cohesion as a unit. Therefore, the guidance of seasoned rowers and coxswains becomes fundamental to the crew’s success.

“We had a freshman cox, Sita Hug, who is a more experienced coxswain, and that was incredibly helpful to help guide those guys down the course,” Kelly explained. “I think they were excited to get another opportunity to run a 2k stretch, and they did a really nice job again handling the conditions.”

Looking forward to the week ahead, the Black and White will face off against local rivals Tufts. This will be Harvard-Radcliffe’s last race of the regular season before moving into IRA championship racing.

“The goals for the rest of the season are just to continue to perfect the edges, clean up the edges, and put the finishing touches on what the crews have been working on thus far,” said Kelly. “To maintain the vision, taking it one day at a time as we get into the rest of our championship season.”

— Staff writer Matilda C. Genieser can be reached at [email protected].