Ben Lundie Wins The Oarsman Award For Lightweights; “Heisman of Men’s Collegiate Rowing”

After sitting in the stroke seat throughout the third straight undefeated season for the lightweight varsity eight, captain Ben Lundie was selected as this year’s lightweight recipient of The Oarsman award by the Intercollegiate Rowing Coaches Association (IRCA).

The IRCA created the Oarsman award to emulate the prestige of the Heisman Trophy for collegiate rowing. Three awards for men’s lightweight, heavyweight, and Division III rowers were first presented in 2025.

“I’m pretty proud to receive the award,” Lundie said. “I’ve worked quite hard over the past four years at Harvard. It means a lot to me. I’m glad it reflects the dedication that I’ve had for this sport.”

According to the IRCA, the award is given to athletes not just on the basis of success on the water, but also on the basis of a commitment to their team and to values that define “true champions.”

Lundie’s selection for the award marks the second straight year that a Harvard lightweight has received the distinction. Last year, Brahm Erdmann ’25 — a Crimson Sports Staff Writer — was honored with the award.

“So far, two Harvard guys have won it, and those are two guys who in the history of Harvard varsity lightweights are on the short list for some of the greatest of all time in terms of their results, work ethic and the impact they’ve had on the program,” head coach Billy Boyce asserted.

The lightweight team — which has not lost since June 2023 — has a real case at being one of the most dominant athletic groups in college athletics. Earlier this summer, the team was named “Team of the Year” by The Crimson, and the group brought home a third straight IRA national championship a few days later.

That being said, when Lundie arrived at Harvard as a freshman in the fall of 2022, the lightweight varsity eight had not won a race in three years. He recalls a sense of discontent in the locker room that he points to as motivation for the turnaround.

“Coming in, I obviously knew how the team had performed the year before,” Lundie said. “But when I turned up, there was absolutely no sign that the team was willing to just continue to perform as they had before. Everyone was focused on doing the work necessary. And I think that’s what has led to our success.”

A strong 2022-23 season laid the groundwork for one of the most dominant stretches across any sport in Harvard’s illustrious athletic history. In a sport where hard work often trumps raw talent because of a weight limit, non-complacency during practice and the offseason played a role in making the run happen.

“Because of the weight cap, lightweight rowing is a sport where you are really just a result of the work that you put in,” Lundie said. “We had to put in as much work as possible, put ourselves in the best shape we could come racing season. And even while we were racing and winning races, the focus was always putting the work in and continuing to be the best that we could be.”

His head coach echoed this sentiment. After the team won its third straight Eastern Sprints Regatta less than two weeks before the IRA national championship, the athletes took hardly any time off with the season’s biggest race looming less than two weeks away.

“There was never any complacency, always competing to be faster,” Boyce said. “These guys won the Sprints this year, having gone undefeated in the regular season, and they circle up in the shop at the boathouse the day after the sprints, and they want to talk about what they need to do better for the IRA national championship.”

“I’m sure they celebrated Sunday night, but by Monday morning they were analyzing the things they needed to improve on and setting goals and targets to go even faster. There was no resting on their laurels for even 24 hours, and that was led by Ben,” he added. “Any coach knows he or she is really lucky if he has a group like that.”

Boyce also pointed toward Lundie as being a leader in establishing this work ethic.

“The parents put together a yearbook for all the rowers at a senior event, and it’s got a fun fact about each senior,” remarked Boyce. “And Ben’s fact was: ‘I did not cry when I was born.’”

“It’s like, of course you didn’t,” he added. “That’s just who he is. He’s just a real serious guy. Very ambitious. Never satisfied with anything but excellence. That’s something you can’t quantify. It’s a spark that ignites confidence in the rest of the crew, and sets the rhythm and the tone for the boat as a whole.”

Lundie, on the other hand, credited Boyce and his coaching staff for helping foster the determined culture in Newell Boathouse.

“Billy is willing to listen to the team and to make the changes necessary to win,” he said. “He’s not the kind of person who will live in the past and stick with what he knows. He’s always willing to accept feedback. And that has helped us with every success we’ve had these past four years. We continue to push and try to improve everything instead of sticking to what we keep doing.”

Included in Lundie’s historic career was a Temple Challenge Cup title at the 2025 Henley Royal Regatta. The race is open-weight, and the course has a constant headwind that often favors heavier teams. Harvard was just the fourth lightweight team to ever win the race, and the first since 2009.

“It’s not a lightweight event,” Boyce said. “It can be heavyweight eights. It can be club eights. It can be British, American, or Dutch. It’s the premier student-level event for the world. And it was kind of assumed that lightweight crews couldn’t win that event anymore.”

“So for us to not only make the final but then win the whole thing? I mean, that eight probably has a legitimate claim at being the best lightweight eight of all time,” the coach added. “So it’s a no-brainer that Ben, the guy stroking that eight, would be the winner of The Oarsman.”

After finishing his college career on top of his sport, Lundie was hopeful that the Heisman of lightweight rowing could find a home on the Charles River in the future.

“I think it reflects the team as a whole, that someone on the team has won this award the past two years,” Lundie said. “This award isn’t just given to someone who goes by themselves and performs well alone. It’s really the result of the whole squad performing and the whole squad working hard.”

“I’m proud for myself, but also for my squad, and I really hope that the squad continues to work hard, as I think it’s something that we can continue to win for years to come,” he added.

—Staff writer Samuel S. Rudavsky can be reached at [email protected].

—Staff writer Maxwell P. Friedman can be reached at [email protected].