Harvard-Radcliffe Heavyweight Rowing Takes on Ohio State Regatta

This weekend, the No. 13 Harvard-Radcliffe heavyweight rowing team took on the Ohio State Regatta against No. 20 Ohio University, Indiana University, No. 12 University of Central Florida, and No. 19 University of North Carolina.

“I think there was a lot of good learning that happened, and I feel like that’s a big thing we talk about with the team, is every time you go down the race course, it’s a learning opportunity. The good, the bad, the ugly, but everything that happens, it’s learning,” head coach Claire Ochal said as she reflected on the weekend.

The team was able to gather a total of five first-place finishes as it looks forward to the Ivy Invitational on April 11 in Princeton, N.J.

“I’m excited to see how we take those lessons moving into the rest of our season, which is most of the season is still ahead,” Ochal said. “So excited, ready, honestly, pretty fired up. And I’m just excited for this team.”

Braving the unexpected rain and strong winds that soared through the Buckeye State, the Harvard-Radcliffe heavyweight crew team headed to the regatta. Despite the less-than-ideal weather conditions, the team was able to clinch first-place finishes in two events out of five on Friday.

“One of the things in rowing is when you’re met with difficult conditions, controlling what you can control, and just always keeping in the back of your mind that everybody’s met with the same conditions,” Ochal said. “The gusts were pretty variable of wind, and so getting hit with that at different times can be pretty tricky, but overall, I think definitely a highlight for sure was our second varsity eight.”

The second varsity eight boat, coxed by freshman Nikhita Mandapaka, came in with a time of 6:52.4, almost a full ten seconds ahead of Ohio State University. The Radcliffe freshman also helped put on a strong performance in the varsity four boat, with freshman cox Isabelle Goldstein, freshman Lola Dahan, and freshman Adela Garcia Rodenas making up more than half the boat that topped the charts in the category with a time of 7:32.1.

“I can’t say enough good things about our freshman,’’ Ochal said. “I definitely want to give an individual shout-out to Nikhita Mandapaka, who coxed the second varsity eight. She has just stepped up beyond belief in terms of what she’s doing, and she might be one of the funniest people I’ve ever met in my life.”

The varsity eight, coxed by senior Bridget Kondrat, and the second varsity four, coxed by sophomore Sofia Branco, each captured second place, both trailing behind the Buckeyes. The two boats set times of 6:37.4 and 7:57.4, respectively. In the last event of the day, Harvard-Radcliffe fell behind the other three schools, as the third varsity boat placed fourth with a time of 7:37.4.

Saturday was met with better weather conditions, allowing the team to secure three first-place victories. The rowers hopped in their respective boats once again to conquer the second day of the regatta. The second varsity eight and the varsity four were able to garner their second first-place victories of the weekend.

“I wanna give a huge shout out to our second varsity eight, and our varsity four, who both went undefeated this weekend. Especially our varsity four, who put down the fastest times of the fours for the weekend, that was super cool, and I think that that speaks volumes to those women in that boat,” said Ochal.

The second varsity eight led Indiana by a four-second gap, setting a time of 6:32.3. The varsity four had the Hoosiers trailing by more than fifteen seconds as it soared down the Scioto River.

Ochal reflected on the performance of the team and said, “They really are having fun together, and with that, they’re also rowing well together, which is, it’s just that's like the perfect storm, right? That’s exactly what you want.”

The second varsity four also had Indiana dangling behind it as it led with a time of 7:34.6.

“Our second varsity four, I thought they had a great second race. On that first one, I think that they just needed to race it a little bit more, and then they had that second opportunity against Indiana to do just that, and they did, so I think they learned a lot,” Ochal shared.

The varsity eight came in second place again, with a time of 6.29.4, four seconds behind the Hoosiers. Lastly, the third varsity eight came in fourth place with a time of 7:18.9, just 0.40 seconds behind Ohio State in the culminating event of the weekend.

“Our third varsity eight, we got some work to do, but we know how to move forward, and our varsity eight, the same thing,” Ochal said. “We’ve got some, some pieces of the puzzle to figure out where they go, but the great thing is, I think we have the right pieces. It’s just we gotta figure out how they fit together.”

The team now sets its sights on the Ivy Invitational next weekend.

“We learned a lot from this weekend, and I’m excited to keep going, and we’re determined to keep going, and we’re gonna just get right back to it,” said Ochal. “I think more than anything, we’re excited to have another opportunity this weekend at the Ivy Invite.”

—Staff writer Tiffany Oh can be reached at [email protected].