Head of the Charles '10
Forever Young on the Water
More than any other sporting event at Harvard, the Head of the Charles has come to embody the tradition, the prestige, and the permanence of what it means to be a Harvard athlete.
After 46 years, the regatta has not only served as an intersection for much of the rowing world, as nearly 8,000 athletes from across the globe descend on Cambridge every fall, but it has also come to serve as a crossroad for Harvard’s past, present, and, ultimately, future.
From Walk-On to Radcliffe Captain
Had a certain freshman roommate not been so persistent three years ago, the fate of Radcliffe crew could have been entirely different. Not only would the second lightweight varsity boat be one woman short, but more importantly, the team would have also been without one of its biggest assets: the leadership of co-captain Leah Schwartz.
“My freshman roommate decided she was interested in rowing and decided to drag me along to the interest meeting,” Schwartz says. “She quit after five days...I didn’t. It was a total whim.”
Digging for Success
Picture a budding Indiana Jones delicately dusting off an artifact dug up in Harvard Yard. Now picture the same person tearing it up on the erg at crew practice. Though not the most common pairing of work and play, these are the versatile talents of senior first varsity heavyweight David Wakulich—rowing and archaeology. And he’ll be the first to admit their seeming mismatch.
“They’re both outdoors?” Wakulich jokes, when asked how the two activities are related.
Different Paths, Same Goal
As a school renowned for its diversity, Harvard is home to students from all backgrounds, concentrations, hometowns, nationalities, and talents. Athletic teams are not exempt. In fact, for the seniors of men’s heavyweight crew, diversity is one of the program’s best qualities.
The class, composed of seven rowers, hails from everywhere from England to Oregon to Canada; studies everything from economics to anthropology to government; and has interests ranging from windsurfing to HoCo to hiking. But the important thing is what brings them all together in their final year at Harvard: rowing.
Steering Her Team to Victory
It’s always fun to buck the trend. Just ask Rachel Rauh.
The senior is the first coxswain in over two decades to be named captain of Radcliffe women’s heavyweight crew.