13 June 2022

By Göran R Buckhorn

Clean sweep for the Bulldogs when the Boat Races return to the Thames River.

Steve Gladstone, the Craig W. Johnson ’68 Head Coach of Yale Heavyweight Crew, completed his 50th racing season on Saturday when the Yale-Harvard Regatta was held on the Thames River in New London. His Bulldogs crews celebrated Gladstone’s 50th by winning all three races. Yale’s First Varsity set a new upstream course record, winning with a time of 18:17.5, which was almost 25 seconds ahead of the Harvard crew.

The victories for Yale started already on Friday in the so-called Combination Race, the 2-mile race for The James Snider Cup. As tradition dictates, the winning crew painted “The Rock” south of Bartlett’s Cove, close to the finish line, in the crew’s colours. The landmark, being across the river from Yale’s and Harvard’s camp, surely lifted the spirits of the Elis on Saturday as the blue painted Rock with a big, white “Y” came into view, while it was a sharp sting in the eyes for the Crimson.

This HTBS reporter was at Red Top, the Harvard camp, during Saturday’s races and there was a somber atmosphere among the Crimson supporters already from the start. Of course, hopes were raised for a miracle that at least Harvard would win one race that day, but it did not happen. Yale came in as favorites in all three races and made no mistakes and left the Harvard oarsmen in their wake.

Yale’s crews had had a fantastic season. At the IRA National Championships on Mercer Lake a week ago, Yale’s Second Varsity and Third Varsity became national champions, while Yale’s First Varsity came in second after a strong Cal eight. Thereby, Yale claimed the Ten Eyck Trophy for heavyweight overall points for the first time ever.

At 3:45 p.m. on Saturday, the first race started, the 2-miler for the Third Varsity (3V). Harvard had a five-seat lead at the 1-mile mark, but was passed by Yale, who won at 8:14.3. Harvard crossed the finish line at 8:19.5. The Bulldogs took the New London Cup.

Yale’s winning crew 3V:
Bow     Felix Mebius/ So – Groningen, The Netherlands
2          Patrick Craig/ Jr – London, England
3          Alex Jeremijenko/ Sr – Brisbane, Australia
4          Nick Phillips/ So – Melbourne, Australia
5          Syvert Senumstad/ Fy – Kristiansand, Norway
6          Alex Potter/ So – Sydney, Australia
7          Nikola Bakoc/ Jr – Belgrade, Serbia
Stroke Freddie Elwes/ Sr – Hampshire, England
Cox      Justin Lobo/ So – La Jolla, California

At 4:30 p.m., the 3-mile race for the Second Varsity (2V) started with the Crimson taking a lead. At the 1-and quarter mile mark, the Bulldogs had caught up with Harvard, and at the halfway mark they had pushed to open water. Yale crossed the line as winners at 13:29.6, taking the F. Valentine Chappell Trophy. Harvard came in at 13:44.9.

Yale’s winning crew 2V:
Bow     Harry Geffen/ Fy – London, England
2          Daire Lynch/ Sr – Clonmel, Ireland
3          Jack Morton/ Sr – Summit, New Jersey
4          Yaro Mikhaylov/ Fy – Brookline, Massachusetts
5          Alexander McClean/ Fy – Sydney, Australia
6          Josh Hill/ Fy – Victoria, Australia
7          Seth Hope/ Fy – Cambridge, New Zealand
Stroke Liam Galloway/ Jr – Ridgefield, Connecticut
Cox      Harry Keenan/ So – Sydney, Australia

For the 4-mile 155th First Varsity race at 5:30 p.m., the Elis were quickest off the start and was only challenged once by the Crimson, at the 1-mile mark, when Harvard came closer and took a few seats on the Yale boat. At the 3-mile mark, Yale put in an extra gear and left Harvard in their wake. The Bulldogs winning time was 18:17.5 – a new upstream record. Harvard crossed the line at 18:42.1.

Yale’s winning crew 1V:
Bow     Noah Norman/ Jr – London, England
2          Andrin Gulich/ Sr – Zurich, Switzerland
3          Jack Lopas/ Sr – CAPTAIN – Christchurch, New Zealand
4          Marcus Emmett/Fy – Melbourne, Australia
5          Miles Beeson/ Jr – Aberdeen, Scotland
6          Fergus Hamilton/ Jr – Jindera, Australia
7          Nick Rusher/ Jr – West Bend, Wisconsin
Stroke Daniel Williamson/ Jr – Auckland, New Zealand
Cox      Vlad Saigau/ Sr – London, England

“We moved with consistent speed from start to finish. There was no tactic that won that race. It was simply our best effort,” Yale Coach Steve Gladstone told media. “The consistency comes not from emotion but devotion to training, and in the devotion to training the oarsmen build bonds, very strong bonds. They are pushing each other and supporting each other. Be very clear, races are not won on race day. Preparation, preparation, preparation.”

Yale took the Sexton Cup for the fifth straight time since 2015 – the 2016 race had no official result due to Harvard sinking, and there were no races in 2020 and 2021 due to COVID-19. Last time Yale won all three races, 3V, 2V and 1V, was in 1996. Thereby, Yale also took the Hoyt C. Pease and Robert Chappell Jr. Trophy, which is presented to the crews who win two or more of the 3V, 2V and 1V races.

As can been seen on the list of Yale crews above, there is only one American in each crew, cox Justin Lobo in the 3V, stroke Liam Galloway the 2V and 7-seat Nick Rusher in the 3V. (Unfortunately, at the time of writing this article, Harvard had not published who was racing in the 3V, 2V and 1V crews on Saturday. In the programme, there are the names of the rowers and in which positions they are rowing. However, as the programme is printed weeks ahead of the races, there are changes in the crews. Harvard published a list of the crews a couple of days before the races, but that list is slightly different from the lists in the programme.)

A quick look at the rosters in the programme shows that of the 56 names on Yale roster, 23 are Americans and 33 are of foreign nationalities. Harvard has 60 names on the roster, 27 Americans and 31 of foreign nationalities (2 of the names on the roster are missing hometowns). Both universities have attracted an equal number of Americans and foreigners, but when it actually comes to racing in the crews the non-Americans are the ones taking the seats making these races an international affair. According to the programme (again printed ahead of the races), Harvard’s 3V crew had four members being Americans, 2V had three and 1V had one.

Among these rowers, both in the Yale and Harvard crews, are national champions, junior world champions, world champions, Henley winners and Olympians.

After the 155th 1st Varsity race, Harvard has a total of 95 victories and Yale has 59.

Right now, the Bulldogs have the upper hand. I am sure Charley Butt, the Bolles-Parker Head Coach for Harvard Men’s Heavyweight Crew, will try to change that for the 156th Boat Race next year.

Here follows some pictures from Red Top on Saturday.