Thankfully, the team is in extremely capable hands. Mike Gennaro, who served as Gladstone’s second in command since 2016, has moved up to head coach. Gennaro’s own rowing career is studded with success: among other accolades, he stroked the 2011 U.S. Under-23 8+ and set a world record, and he achieved an alternate position for the 2012 London Summer Olympic Games. 

Gennaro’s promotion was not the only staffing change instituted this season. The team also promoted its third coach, Matt Fluhr, to the second position, and hired longtime volunteer coach, Henri LaLiberte, as the third member of the coaching staff. In July 2023, LaLiberte served as an assistant coach alongside Gladstone for the U.S. Men’s Senior National Team.

“It’s been a seamless transition,” said Harry Keenan ’24, team captain and first varsity coxswain. “Mike brings to the table a ton of success and frankly he just knows what to do.”

Since the founding of Yale’s boat club in 1843, Keenan is only the second coxswain to be chosen as captain of the team. Gennaro said to Yale Athletics that Keenan’s captaincy as coxswain “speaks volumes to how much he is respected by our squad.”

Last year, Keenan coxed first varsity through an undefeated dual race season and earned First Team All-Ivy.

This Saturday, the top four heavyweight boats will take on Brown, Harvard, Northeastern, Washington and Stanford at the IRA Sarasota Invitational.

At this event last year, the first and fourth varsities came in first. The second varsity finished third to Brown and Washington, and the third varsity finished second to Washington.

The invitational marks the first competition of the team’s spring racing season — and it will be followed by three dual races, the Eastern Sprints and IRA Championships, and, finally, the 157th iteration of the iconic Yale-Harvard Regatta in June.

When asked about the team’s goals for the season, Keenan emphasized the importance of consistent work leading up to the day of a race, not just the crew’s performance on the day itself.

“Obviously we want to get results in the big races, but that comes from executing day in and day out,” the senior coxswain said. “We’re looking to go as fast as we can, and hopefully that is enough to bring home the medals we want.”

Yale is the oldest collegiate boat club in America.

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The women’s team began the competition on Saturday, when they captured the club eight title with a time of 16:10.900. This time was almost 16 seconds faster than second-place Dartmouth.

Anna Keating ’27 stroked the Club Eight to a victory, with Lily Eales ’25 at bow, followed by Maeve Heneghan ’26, Claire Cummings ’26, Sus Tuder ’26, Stine Nielsen ’27, Sophie Craver ’25 and Patti Mullin ’26. Hope Galusha ’26 coxed the boat.

On Sunday, the team’s Varsity Eight and Second Varsity Eight competed, earning the collegiate championship title and bronze medal, respectively.

Lauren Carey ’24 stroked the Varsity Eight to a time of 16:25.277, the fifth fastest overall time behind only US Rowing and European crews. Esha Bhattacharya ’24 coxed the eight, with Harriet Drake-Lee ’26 in the bow seat, followed by Imogen Cabot ’26, Sophia Hahn ’24, Hanna Winter ’24, Maddie Moore ’25, Mia Levy ’25 and Sophie Houston ’24.

Aikaterini Gkogkou ’27 stroked the Second Varsity Eight, with Laura Burton ’27 at bow, followed by Olivia Schnur ’25, Jana Dremelj ’27, Lindsey Williams ’27, Mackenzie Ealson ’26. Marie Ramm ’25 and Alexa von der Schulenburg ’26. Grace Menke ’24 coxed the boat. The Second Varsity Eight posted a time of 16:58.163, the third fastest 2V crew.

“It is really fun to coach this team,” said women’s head coach Will Porter to Yale Athletics. “They are eager to learn, great teammates and super positive.”

The men’s heavyweight crew team fought hard on Sunday, claiming fifth place in the varsity race with a time of 14:35.543. 

Harry Geffen ’25 stroked the Varsity Eight with Benjamin Wiegand ’24 at bow, followed by Matthew Hansen ’25, Yaroslav Mikhaylov ’25, Zachary Day ’26, Lexi McClean ’25, Syvert Senumstad ’25 and John Patton ’27. Harry Keenan ’24 coxed the boat.

“We had a very experienced coxswain, and starting third let us navigate around most of the traffic,” said Ben Wiegand ’24. “The race itself was very bumpy and winding, and finding a rhythm came and went a lot–but everyone had great composure and stuck with the effort throughout it.”

The Varsity Eight’s coxswain, Keenan, coxed the Australian junior men’s 4V to fifth at the 2019 junior world championships.

Luca Liautaud ’25 stroked the men’s Second Varsity Eight to a 16th place finish of 14:58.728.

Justin Lobo ’24 coxed the boat with Seth Hope ’25 at bow, followed by Einar Bjorvik ’27, Jan Vacek ’24, Ulrik Lohne ’27, Stewart Fuqua ’26, Alex Potter ’24 and Jakov Bijelic ’25.

The NCAA crew season is in the spring, so the Head of the Charles and Head of the Housatonic regattas are opportunities for off-season competition for the crew teams. The Head of the Housatonic was supposed to be held this year on Oct. 7, but it was cancelled due to inclement weather.

“The results at the Charles are never indicative of results in the spring, so it’s hard to draw conclusions following the race,” said McClean. “That being said, the energy surrounding training has been really positive, and the whole team has significantly improved both on the erg and on the water since arriving at the start of the fall. I’m excited to see where our progress takes us.”

The men’s lightweight crew team brought the largest contingent of the three teams — two eights and two fours — to the Boston stage this weekend.

The ‘A’ Eight finished fifth, falling to fourth-place Dartmouth by two seconds. The ‘B’ Eight finished in 13th.

Ryan Vaughn ’25 stroked the ‘A’ Eight with Magdalena Moore ’25 at cox and Devin Seli ’24 at bow, followed by Will Konopka ’26, Timmy Parsons ’26, Nolan Kaputa ’26, Michael Steinthal ’24, Itai Almogy ’24 and Andres Garcia-Chacon ’24. 

Constantine Polychronopoulos ’25 stroked the ‘B’ Eight with Akshay Khunte ’24 at cox and Maxwell Raabe ’27 at bow, followed by Andrew Kasparyan ’26, Michael Linquata ’24, Harry Waters ’27, Enrico Pradines ’24, Max Blacksten ’27 and Angus Stevenson ’25.

“Our guys raced hard and showed some good second-half effort in all the races, helped by awesome, excellent coxing,” said lightweight head coach Andy Card to Yale Athletics.

The lightweight ‘A’ Four placed 10th, and the lightweight ‘B’ Four placed 13th.

James Casemore ’24 stroked the ‘A’ Four with Fanny Zhang ’24 at cox and John Cahill ’25 at bow, followed by Andy Yang ’24 and Andrew Griesinger ’26.

Tom Monaghan ’26 stroked the ‘B’ Four with Jackie Weyerhaeuser ’25 at cox and Martin Vakoc ’26 at bow, followed by Raph Clark ’27 and Blake Weyerhaeuser ’24.

All three crew teams will resume competition in the spring.

Correction Nov. 11: This article was updated to clarify that the Head of the Housatonic was canceled this year due to inclement weather.

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The weekend began with the heavyweight team facing off against Dartmouth College for the Olympic Axe in a home race at Gilder Boathouse. 

As has often been the case in recent years, the Bulldogs dominated the Big Green, winning four of the five races — including the Varsity 8 — to retain the Olympic Axe, which it has held since the prize was created in 2004. 

“It was a solid race,” said Luca Liautaud ’25, who stroked the 3V. “We focused on keeping things lively and simple and quick. We brought great energy to the warmup, and the race fell into place from there. We’re pretty keen on pushing on and seeing what we can do in the weeks ahead.”

The Varsity 8 defeated the top Dartmouth boat by more than two seconds with a time of 5:26.70. 

Meanwhile, the women’s team turned in an equally dominant performance in Saratoga Springs, New York against Syracuse University and Cornell University. The team won all five races of the day, including a massive 15-second win in the 2V. 

The Elis also secured the Cayuga Cup when the Varsity 8 finished their race in 6:25.621, defeating the top Syracuse boat by more than five seconds and demolishing the Cornell Varsity 8 by nearly 41 seconds.

“All of our crews raced well today,” head coach Will Porter said to Yale Athletics. “There were great conditions for racing. We are slowly making progress with all of our lineups. I’m really proud of the team today.”

The lightweight team put the cap on an excellent weekend when it was their turn to race at Gilder Boathouse. They continued the Bulldogs’ dominance and won all three races against the Georgetown Hoyas.

“I think that Saturday was really exciting,” 3V coxswain Jackie Weyerhaeuser ’25 said. “It was nice to have wins across the board and the team is looking forward to the races to come.”

The Varsity 8 turned in another strong performance to lead the way for the Elis, putting in an impressive 5:35.6 time, leading the Georgetown Varsity 8 time of 5:38.4.

The lightweight team now will turn its focus to its Ivy League races, with hopes to continue their strong start to the spring season. 

“The team is feeling energized after two successful race weekends against the Naval Academy and Georgetown,” Blake Weyerhaeuser ’24 said. “The 1, 2, 3v and 4V have yet to lose a race but the close wins mean we can’t rest easy and must keep pushing to find more speed.”

This weekend, the heavyweight and lightweight teams will both host University of Pennsylvania and Columbia University on the Housatonic River, while the women’s team will travel to Cambridge to face rivals Harvard University.

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The heavyweight team began their season on Saturday with an unusual road trip to Sarasota, Florida, to race in the Sunshine State Invitational against Brown University and the University of Washington. 

“It was great to start off the season with a good result,” said Harry Geffen ’25, who stroked the top Yale boat. “We’re excited to see how the rest of the season will unfold.”

While dealing with a strong tail wind that required a cleaner technique, the Bulldogs came out on top in both the first and fourth varsity boats. The first boat won the Albert Cup by defeating Brown by almost more than six seconds with a time of 5:27.90. 

This season will be especially important for head coach Steve Gladstone, as he announced late last year that the 2022-23 season would be his last before retiring. 

Gladstone will leave his post as one of the most decorated collegiate rowing coaches of all time, having coached the most IRA Championship crews in history. He has also been largely credited with restoring the Yale heavyweight team to the top of the collegiate level, winning three national championships during his time in New Haven.

“Our team was very aggressive, which they had to be in those tail wind conditions,” Gladstone told Yale Athletics. “They were very poised, set into their base rhythm very well, and moved the boat. Overall, a great start to the season against really strong opponents. The first 1500 meters of the race was excellent. I was very happy to see our bow come across the finish line first.”

The goal for the team this year will be to add one more national championship to Gladstone’s total before he closes the book on his career. 

While the heavyweight team enjoyed the sunshine and 80-degree weather in Sarasota, the lightweight team also began its season on Saturday on Lake Carnegie in Princeton, New Jersey. 

In Princeton, the lightweight team faced off with the U.S. Naval Academy in five races, coming away with wins in all of them except for the 5V. 

The varsity eight won the Eads Johnson Jr. Cup for the 11th year in a row, defeating the top Navy crew by just half a second in an exciting back-and-forth race.

“Just when you thought this regatta could not get more intense and exciting, it did,” head coach Andrew Card said to Yale Athletics. “At the end of the varsity race, we were fortunate to find ourselves on the right end of the result but only just.”

With the 2V, 3V and 4V all also winning their races, the Bulldogs were able to recapture the Jon Van Amringe Cup for winning the overall competition.

With a time of 5:35.5, the varsity lightweight boat was only 1.5 seconds short of beating the lightweight crew Lake Carnegie course record of 5:34.0.

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Gladstone began his illustrious tenure at Yale in 2010 after previously coaching at Princeton, Harvard, University of California, Berkeley, Brown, the U.S. National Team and the California Rowing Club. At the onset of his career with the Bulldogs, Gladstone had coached 37 lightweight and heavyweight boats to different championships and national titles. Since Gladstone came to New Haven, Yale heavyweights have captured three national championships, six EARC titles and for the first time in 26 years, swept the river at the Yale-Harvard Regatta.

“I consider it an honor and a privilege to work closely with Steve, a proven coaching legend and inspiring leader,” Director of Athletics Vicky Chun told Yale Athletics in a press release. “He has brought Yale’s Heavyweight Crew program and every program under him to national and global success and has been instrumental in the growth of the sport. In his career, Steve has achieved more success than most could dream of having in a lifetime. He is truly the Most Interesting Man in the World.”

Gladstone’s 50-year coaching career boasts 14 Intercollegiate Rowing Association National Championships — an accomplishment achieved by only one other collegiate coach. Additionally, he has received the US Rowing Medal and earned several Coach of the Year honors from the IRA, Ivy League and the EARC. Gladstone has served on the Board of Directors of the National Association of Amateur Oarsmen, as a US. Olympic team selector and member of the Men’s Olympic Rowing Committee.

Along with the accolades, Gladstone has forged meaningful relationships, which he describes to be “at the absolute core of the work.” To him, the most rewarding aspect of coaching has been “contributing to the transformation of human beings.”

“It’s been an honor and a pleasure to work under him and learn what it takes to be at the top level of anything,” Harry Keenan ’24, the first varsity coxswain said. “He has this quote: ‘You don’t pretend to row, and I don’t pretend to coach.’ I think what separates him [from other coaches] is his ability to be honest. He is a phenomenal leader … the way he can inspire people is unparalleled in my eyes.”

Keenan, who has coxed the Australian national rowing team, added that though he has been blessed with great coaches throughout his career, he would “not even compare [Gladstone] to them.” Keenan said that many rowers ultimately come to Yale to get the opportunity to work with Gladstone. 

Current associate head coach Mike Gennaro, who has been at Yale since 2016, will succeed Gladstone.

Keenan noted that even though Gladstone is retiring, Gennaro is “unbelievable,” he will do a “fantastic job” and “nothing will change.”

“I feel extraordinarily blessed to have found this work,” Gladstone said in a Yale Athletics farewell montage. “I feel incredibly fortunate that I was given certain capabilities that allow me to do it and do it effectively. I did not consciously study the art of coaching — and it is an art. It came to me. For that, I feel very blessed. I feel incredibly grateful. And I’m not going to stop coaching.”

Gladstone began his rowing career in high school in 1960 and continued throughout his time at Syracuse University. 

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As one of the largest one-day racing events on the East Coast, the Head of the Housatonic has hosted thousands of athletes and hundreds of crews annually since 1994. The 2.6 mile upstream race course starts north of Yale’s Gilder Boathouse at Indian Well State Park and finishes at the New Haven Rowing Club Boathouse. This weekend, Yale was represented by 14 boats, with several of them capturing top spots in their respective events. 

“The Housatonic is a chance for everyone to race, and that is something that only happens a few times a year,” lightweight captain Jamie Patterson ’23 told the News. “It is special as somewhat of a unique experience to get everybody out there racing at once. It is exciting when all of [the first years] can join us.” 

The women’s crew competed in four eights in the Division I event, posting three of the top four finishing times. The Yale 1V boat victored with an impressive 15:10.6 time, nearly seven seconds faster than the 2V. The rest of the fleet placed fourth and ninth.

“We were mainly trying to compete against ourselves because we race on this river every day, so it is a really good marker for us,” said Anna Scott ’23, who rowed in the first varsity. 

The weather on Saturday favored spectators, who were welcomed with dry and sunny conditions. But the crews faced a strong headwind as they raced upstream. Esha Bhattacharya ’24, coxswain for the women’s first varsity, explained that the wind added 30 seconds to the normal race time and noted that “conditions were not ideal, but could have been worse.” 

As the Bulldogs’ home river, the Housatonic is familiar to all Yale crews. Bhattacharya noted that for head racing, where boats start off individually and are timed from start to finish, steering can make a big difference in terms of meters and avoiding flow and wind, so it was helpful that the crews were accustomed to the turns of the river. 

“What we took from this race is that you can never get complacent with where you are sitting,” Scott said. “You always have to keep pushing and be as aggressive as you can … You never know when you can win head racing, so you always have to be on your game, and that is one thing we can take going into the Head of the Charles.” 

Without an official lightweight event, the Y150 decided to forego the weigh-in and entered four boats to compete in the heavyweight event and one novice crew in a separate event. Patterson told the News that the crew was focused on delivering “as fast a piece as they can,” and did not dwell on who they were racing against.    

In the men’s collegiate IRA event, the first varsity came in seventh place, posting a 13:56.9 time, with the rest of the fleet finishing in 11th, 17th and 18th place. The novice eight captured second place behind Fairfield with a 16:22.9 finishing time.   

Patterson noted that lightweight boats are especially affected by wind, with tailwinds favoring them. He said that the headwind and weather conditions created a “chaotic atmosphere,” but it made for “fun racing.” Similarly to the women, the lightweights use this event as an opportunity to compare how the boats performed — both within each eight and relative to one another. 

Five heavyweight crews competed in the men’s open IRA eights, where the first varsity captured the top spot with a 13:17.3 finish time. The remaining boats placed third, fifth and eighth, respectively. The fifth boat was disqualified.

“We were pretty happy across the board with the results,” Harry Keenan ’24, coxswain for the heavyweight first varsity, told the News. “For racing, it is interesting because it is important for building the base, but most of the work happens outside the race days. So, it is fun to get in lineups, and we want to put out the strongest performance we can, but we do not obsess over the results. It is very much just an indicator of where we need to improve rather than something we lean into heavily.”

Keenan said that there was a lot of “commotion” meaning it was windy and there were lots of bends. These are similar conditions to those the boats will endure at the Head of the Charles, making Saturday’s race a “good simulator.”

Overall, Keenan described the event as “lighthearted” and that while everyone performs as best they can, in the end, they take the results “with a grain of salt.”  

All of the crew members who spoke with the News highlighted the alumni presence at Gilder on Saturday. Bhattacharya mentioned that during races, the boathouse is mainly populated by the crew members, but the Head of the Housatonic is one of the few times they witness a strong spectator presence. 

The Bulldogs will culminate their fall season at the Head of the Charles in Cambridge, MA on Oct. 21-23. 

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The men’s squad kicks off the packed schedule on Friday in the Bronx at championships for Intercollegiate Association for Ameteur Athletes of America, or IC4A.

Much of the women’s squad will also head to New York City for the ECAC — short for Eastern College Athletic Conference — Championships. The team’s top seven runners will travel to Stillwater, Oklahoma on Saturday to compete at the Weis-Crockett Invitational, also known as Pre-Nationals. 

“On the women’s side we are a split squad,” women’s coach Taryn Sheehan wrote to the News. “Since we have such a young squad, we want to make sure we have enough opportunities for all our athletes to have preparation for the championship part of the season.”

Both locations give the teams important exposure to courses they will run later this season. The IC4A and the ECAC are held in Van Cortlandt Park, the site of both the Ivy Championships and NCAA Regionals. These will take place on Oct. 28 and Nov. 11, respectively. 

Pre-Nationals take place on the same course as the NCAA National Championship.

“This will be a really great opportunity for a portion of our team to get some experience racing on the same course that Heps and Regionals will be held on in a couple of weeks,” captain Samantha Friborg ’23 wrote to the News. “Knowing the course is a really crucial part of cross country. This meet will provide the group with great feedback about what portions of the race to attack more during the postseason.”

“Heps,” short for “heptagonals,” refers to the Ivy League Championships and the league’s original seven teams. Although the league’s composition has since expanded to include Cornell University, the name has stuck.

The field for each of the three races will be strong, with all eight Ivy League teams competing in the ECAC and IC4A. The Ancient Eight have competed against one another before during this season, but this will be the only time the whole conference will face off before the Ivy League championships at the end of this month.

For men’s captain Cade Brown ’23, racing against other Ivy League schools early in the season extends beyond getting exposure — the team is setting a precedent.

“Especially as distance runners who compete in the fall for Cross Country, winter for Indoor Track, and spring for outdoor track, we race against these other Ivy athletes very often, meaning success early in the year can have a beneficial snowball effect later down the line,” Brown wrote to the News.

This weekend marks the first of four championships the Cross Country teams will compete in during the home stretch of the season. 

Following next weekend’s CCSU Mini-Meet in New Britain, Connecticut, the Bulldogs will finish out the season with the Ivy League Championships and the NCAA Championships.

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In its last race of the season at Gilder, the No. 2 heavyweight crew sought to culminate the spring by winning a seventh-straight Carnegie Cup and continuing the varsity eight’s winning streak, but a steering error led to the boat’s disqualification and loss of the cup to Princeton. Nevertheless, the crew marched on to championships, where several boats captured gold and national titles. The Race, the annual bout with Harvard, culminated in a historic sweep. The lightweight crew encountered similar success. After sweeping its last race of the regular season, the No. 1 crew won the Eastern Sprints — becoming Ivy League Champions — but finished fourth at the IRAs.

“I feel that the success of each boat comes from the whole squad,” heavyweight rower Fergus Hamilton ’23 wrote. “We wouldn’t have done as well if it wasn’t for all the effort put in throughout the year by each individual. I think as a senior that’s something I’m always really proud of, the effort that we all put in. Winning races is fun but it’s better to do it with guys you know have worked just as hard as you.” 

At the Eastern Sprints in May, the heavyweights captured gold in the first, second and third varsity grand finals, capturing the Rowe Cup a fourth straight time. Despite an injury in the varsity eight, the crew continued its winning streak into a sixth year and was later titled the EARC Crew of the Year in June. The fifth varsity came in third and the fourth and sixth varsity finished fourth. 

The team continued to assert its dominance in June during the IRA National Championships in New Jersey. The second and third varsity captured gold, while the varsity eight took home silver after falling to California, who won with a two-second lead. Nonetheless, the crew won the Ten Eyck Memorial Trophy for overall supremacy and became the first school other than California or Washington to win the title since 2005. 

“It’s the strongest [group] I’ve coached since I’ve been at Cal,” said heavyweight head coach Steve Gladstone, who previously coached at University of California, Berkeley, to Yale Athletics.“It speaks to the intelligence and devotion to guys from top to bottom, which is a dream.”

A week later, the crew returned to Gales Ferry Boathouse in New London in preparation for the 155th Yale-Harvard Regatta which returned after a three-year hiatus. 

The Race culminated in an all-round victory for the Bulldogs, who swept the river for the first time in 26 years. In the first event of the weekend, the fourth varsity set the tone with a near six-second victory. The first varsity, which crossed the finish line 25 seconds ahead of the Crimson, broke the upstream record. The second varsity, which completed the season undefeated, fell behind at the beginning of the race. After catching up to the Crimson about a third of the way through, it never looked back and crossed the finish with 15 seconds on the opponent. The third varsity — also undefeated — beat the Crimson by five seconds.

The rock at Barlett’s Cove — painted in the colors of the winning crew — has remained blue and white since 2015.

“Yale-Harvard is emotionally really important to us,” Nick Rusher ’23 said. “Everybody hopes to win a national championship, but it means nothing if you don’t win the Yale-Harvard Race that year.” 

Abroad, the heavyweight crew represented the Bulldogs at the Henley Royal Regatta. The No. 2 crew was represented by 11 rowers in the last Henley in 2019. The eight, drawn from the spring season’s top three varsity boats and including a coxswain from the women’s team, had four days to train before the race. The crew advanced to the semifinals where they fell to Leander, which won by two lengths. 

Esha Bhattacharya ’24, who coxed the Henley eight, described the experience as a “taste of the historic culture of rowing” which she noted is lost in most modern regattas, especially those in the U.S. Bhattacharya highlighted how different Henley was from other competitions. At Yale, she can approach her races with previous knowledge of the crews she faces, but in England, the crew encountered unfamiliar waters, boats and a longer race. 

A notable difference Bhattacharya pointed out was the proximity of the spectators to the race course. During her American collegiate rowing career, she could not recall a time when she could clearly hear the cheering from the crowd, she said. But at Henley, the cheers were loud and clear, and provided the crew with a “boost.” 

After concluding the offseason, some heavyweight crew members went on to national training camps. For instance, Rusher, who raced in the varsity eight, trained in California and Croatia before making it on to the U.S. team, which will compete at the World Rowing Championships in the Czech Republic this September. 

“I wasn’t really expecting to make the team at all, but things just worked out,” Rusher told the News. “Now I have a chance to compete for a medal at the World Championships which has always been a dream of mine. My parents met on the national team and my sister recently raced in Tokyo so it’s been a dream of mine to do what my family has done.” 

In May, the lightweight first varsity won the Eastern Sprints after an undefeated season, capturing Yale’s first Wright Cup, the fifth Jope Cup in the last 10 years and the first Ivy League Championship since 2016. 

In the remaining events, the second varsity came in fifth place falling behind Princeton. The third varsity finished third — four seconds behind winner Columbia. Both the fourth and fifth varsity medaled in second place, coming behind Navy and Cornell, respectively. The coxed four came in third place, falling to Cornell and Columbia. 

“I’m really proud of every guy and girl on this team,” senior captain Geoff Skelly ’22 said to Yale Athletics. “Anything can happen on Sprints day, and things fell in the right place for us today. We love to row and race together.” 

Despite their previous success, the first varsity placed fourth at the IRA National Championship, where Columbia took home the national title. Similarly, the second varsity came in fourth in its grand final coming in three seconds behind Columbia. The coxed four won in the petite final but finished seventh in the final event. 

“We gave the effort, but the boat speed wasn’t there,” lightweight head coach Andy Card said to Yale Athletics. “… What this varsity eight has accomplished all year has been exceptional. While this one stings a bit for us, it was a great day for the league, as the parity makes lightweight rowing so incredible.” 

The top two lightweight boats raced on the other side of the pond at the Henley Royal Regatta, where the first varsity defeated Santa Clara and advanced to day two while the second varsity fell to DSRV Laga. Unfortunately, the first varsity went on to fall to Washington in a close race where the Elis lagged half a length behind. 

The heavyweight and lightweight crews will take to the water next month at the Head of the Housatonic on Oct. 8.

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At the culmination of their regular season in April, the Bulldogs clocked in five victories, effectively sweeping Radcliffe and Northeastern on the Housatonic. The varsity eight defeated Radcliffe with a 15-second victory and captured the Case Cup for the ninth straight season. This impressive success followed the squad to the postseason and throughout the summer, where it earned various titles and medals. 

“Rowing at these high level championships gives an extra dimension to the sport, which makes coming back to New Haven to compete for Yale even more exciting,” Margaret Hedeman ’23, a former sports editor for the News, wrote. “It is also a great opportunity to gain a new perspective through different coaching and meeting people from opposing NCAA teams.”

During the Ivy League Championship, the women’s crew delivered impressive results, with the second varsity eight claiming the grand final and the Bulldogs tying with Princeton and Brown for overall team points. Ultimately, the title went to Princeton whose first varsity won gold. 

Nevertheless, the event was a success for the Bulldogs who won four of the six grand finals, consisting of three eights and three fours. The varsity eight and the varsity four also medalded, each coming in third. 

After this success, the first and second varsity eight and the varsity four headed to Sarasota, Florida for the 2022 NCAA Women’s Rowing Championship. At the time, the CRCA national poll ranked the crew as No. 4, the varsity eight posted a 19–1 record during the season and both the second varsity eight and the varsity four culminated the season undefeated. 

“I am so proud of this team. They fought for everything here,” head coach Will Porter said to Yale Athletics at the championship. “There is no question we are not 100 percent as a team, but they just stepped up and raced their tails off. We had to make many last-minute adjustments to our lineups, but they stepped up as a team.”

Despite strong racing, the varsity eight and varsity four narrowly missed a spot in the grand final after both crews placed fourth in their respective events. The second varsity eight advanced to the final event, and ultimately won gold after beating second-place Stanford by two seconds. The last time the second varsity eight boat advanced to the grand finals was in 2018. The overall team placed fifth as a team with 102 points. The 2V8’s victory is the second NCAA title for the Yale crew and the fifth for the Bulldogs. 

A month later at the Henley Royal Regatta, the Bulldogs submitted two entries to race on the Thames — a coxed eight in The Island Challenge Cup and a coxless pair, Lucy Edmunds ’23 and Katie King-Smith ’22, in The Hambleden Challenge Cup. Throughout the weekend, the eight won three races in the bracket-style regatta to advance to finals where they fell to Brown. After an impressive race, the pair was defeated during the first round by the California Rowing Club, who ultimately captured the cup. 

“We had a good run through the regatta coming in as a low seed and fighting our way to the final,” Porter said. “I look forward to getting the team together in the fall in New Haven.”

After completing a successful season for Yale, 12 Bulldogs represented numerous countries at the U23 and U19 World Championships in Varese, Italy. 

“I was in the eight with two other Yale teammates which was exciting and hopefully gives an indication of the caliber of our squad,” Hedeman said. “We also had several other Yalies representing various countries who performed very well such as Christina [Bourmpou] — 2020 Olympian — who also won her event.”

At the U23 world championships, the United States eight sat three Bulldogs: Hedeman, Sophia Hahn ’24 and Maddie Moore ’25. Hedeman won a U19 World Championship in 2018 and Hahn received a gold medal in the U.S. U23 eight last summer. This summer, the three Yalies helped the United States eight win the finals, awarding each of them a gold medal. 

Great Britain’s coxless four included  Lauren Carey ’24 and Phoebe Campbell ’22 who captured a silver medal, and Denmark’s coxless four included Marie Ramm ’25. 

“I think my U23 experience this summer was a great compliment to my first year rowing at Yale in both its intensity and excitement,” Moore wrote. “It was super fun to see my Yale teammates all around the course, and become teammates with people from other NCAA programs. The excitement and competitiveness of racing has made me eager to continue racing for Yale.” 

Christina Bourmpou ’25, who won at the U23 championships last summer and raced at the Tokyo Olympics, represented Greece in a pair and captured gold while simultaneously posting a World Championship record-breaking time. 

At the U19 championships, three first years raced for different countries. Imogen Cabot ’26 represented the United States in the coxless four, Zoe Beeson ’26  raced for Great Britain in the pair and Lexi von der Schulenburg ’26 represented Switzerland in the pair.

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The Yale-Harvard Regatta, commonly known as The Race, is America’s oldest intercollegiate sporting event, dating back to 1852. The event has annually hosted Yale and Harvard men’s heavyweight crews since its founding, with exceptions such as major world wars and the COVID-19 pandemic. The last race was held on June 8, 2019, when Yale captured the Sexton Cup, the trophy awarded to the winning first varsity crew.

“It’s not any other race. It is unique, both in its history and its format,” men’s heavyweight head coach Steve Gladstone said. “There is no question. For a Yale and Harvard oarsman, it is the race of the year.”

The Race is held in early June, shortly after nationals. Following the end of classes, the rowers move out of their dorms and into Old Campus, where they remain until the completion of the Eastern Sprints and IRA Championships. The day after graduation, the rowers, coaches and a series of volunteers who maintain the house drive an hour to Gales Ferry Boathouse — the home of the heavyweight crew — in New London, CT where the event is held. The crew remains there for two to three weeks to train for and compete in The Race.

A significant factor that sets The Race apart from other events is its added length. Throughout the season, regular races are two kilometers long. The event includes three races: a two-mile race for the third varsity, three-miles for the second varsity and a four-mile race for the first varsity. Gladstone contextualized the difference in length by equating the regular two kilometer races to a sprint and the four-mile race to a marathon — a usual finish time for a two kilometer is less than six minutes but a four-mile can last up to twenty.  

Vlad Saigau ’22, coxswain for the first varsity, added that during a two kilometer race there is no time to “play mind games.” The crew can only focus on getting to the finish line as quickly as possible. But in a longer race, each boat is focused on a fast start — putting in the level of effort comparable to that of a two kilometer early on. This level of exertion places a large physical and psychological toll on the crew.

“You are working a lot harder than you can sustain for twenty minutes,” Saigau noted. “Undoubtedly going to be the most painful race that any of these guys row this year. They are all aware of that.” 

Aside from the difference in format, The Race is unique because of its rich history and the traditions that have surrounded the event for generations. 

As the first American intercollegiate event, The Race has hosted generations of Yale and Harvard rowers, along with large “spectator fleets” throughout the years, according to Gladstone. While the crowd is not as large as it once was, he noted that yachts still line the side of the course to watch the event, along with the number of alumni who gather at Gales Ferry to follow the live-streamed race. 

“When I talk to Yale rowing alumni, almost without question, [The Race] is the seminal experience of their Yale rowing career,” Gladstone told the News. 

For the oarsmen, the circumstances surrounding the race provide added significance. 

At Gales Ferry, the crew is isolated from the outside world throughout their stay — without any possible distractions or WiFi access. With the semester over, the team is left to focus solely on the upcoming races. Saigau noted that being there is like being in a “Yale bubble” where the compound is filled with pictures of past crews and the only thing to do aside from training is bonding. The experience is “meditative, in a way.”           

“The semester is so fast paced and there is so much to do and all of a sudden it becomes so simple,” Saigau said. “You just wake up, train and walk back up the stairs. Nowhere to travel, nothing else to do.” 

While the event always holds special significance to current and graduated heavyweight members, this year it is different. The pandemic led to cancellations in 2020 and 2021, meaning that for a large majority of the team, this will be their first time at The Race. 

After three years, the upperclassmen are looking forward to culminating their Yale rowing careers at The Race, while the rest of the team experiences it for the first time. 

“We are very excited,” said Fergus Hamilton ’23. “For the guys that got to race in 2019, we have been waiting for three years to do this again and all of the younger guys are excited. They can’t wait to get out there and race.” 

Saigau told the News that in the moments leading up to the race, the oarsmen can’t dedicate their mind to the sentimental aspect of the race. But once it culminates, there is a “massive vacuum,” where all of the emotions flow in. He is sure it will be “quite overwhelming,” especially for the seniors on the team. 

For the team, The Race each year is the last time a crew rows together as the varsity eight. For the graduating seniors, it is the culmination of their Yale rowing careers. 

“After seeing the way that some of my close teammates had to finish their Yale careers with just being sent home and not able to go another season, I feel very fortunate and will be definitely thinking about them when we go do this race,” captain Jack Lopas ’22 said. 

The last time Harvard defeated Yale in the first varsity race was 2015. 

Nicole Rodriguez | nicole.rodriguez.nr444@yale.edu

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