12 June 2023

By Göran R Buckhorn

On last Saturday, 10 June, Göran Buckhorn found himself at the Yale Camp at Gales Ferry for the 156th edition of the Yale-Harvard Regatta. A day to remember for many reasons.

After last year’s clean sweep when the Bulldogs took all four races – the Combination race (now also called 4 Varsity, or 4V), the 3V race, 2V race and 1V race – the expectations were high at the Yale Camp for a repeat. It would be a nice send-off for Steve Gladstone, 82, the Craig W. Johnson ’68 Head Coach of Yale Heavyweight Crew, as his official title is, now that he has decided to hang up the megaphone and retire after 13 seasons at Yale. Altogether Gladstone’s coaching career has lasted for slightly more than 50 years.

A couple of days before the regatta, at the pre-race luncheon, which was held at the Coast Guard Academy this year, New London Mayor Michael Passero presented Gladstone with a proclamation honoring his long service to the sport of rowing.

Around the Yale Camp

It started well on Friday evening, when Yale’s crew won the 2-mile 4V race and thereby earned the right to paint “The Rock” on the New London shore of the Thames River blue with a white “Y”.

In glorious sunshine, the first race, 3V, of the day started at 2:15 p.m. from Mamacoke Hill 2 miles up to Bartlett’s Cove. A couple of minutes into the race, Harvard had a slight lead which had become a length at the ½-mile point. Yale tried a push, but the Crimson responded. Seven and a half minutes into the race, the Bulldogs had contact, but Harvard crossed the finish line almost a length ahead of Yale at 9:55.0, taking the New London Cup. Yale’s time was 9:57.3

In time for the 3-mile 2V race, the water had become rough at the start at the Coast Guard Academy. A strong crosswind made it difficult to line up the boats. After a few strokes, Harvard had a slight lead. The Crimson continued to pull away from the Bulldogs, and one could feel the disappointment in the air at the Yale Camp. Five minutes into the race, Yale took a few seats from Harvard and then never left contact. At the last quarter of the race, Yale made a big push and went right through their opponents and left them in their wake. Yale crossed the finish line by more than a boat length’s lead. The F. Valentine Chappell Trophy was Yale’s, who won at 14:29.4, Harvard’s time was 14:33.0.

The weather had calmed down in time for the start of the 1V under the Gold Star Bridge. Yale took the start and kept putting water between their boat and Harvard’s. Yale had a length at 3 minutes 30 seconds into the race and had a comfortable lead for the rest of the 4-mile race.

It became a very noisy affair at the Yale Camp where the attendees – fellow oarsmen, parents, brothers, sisters, girlfriends and other Yale fans – had put their food away to be able to cheer on their heroes whom they saw on a big TV screen. Yale crossed the finish line comfortably a little more than two lengths ahead of Harvard. Winning time 19:14.9. Harvard’s time was 19:26.6. Yale took the Sexton Cup for the sixth consecutive time. (2016 was regarded as a “no result”, no races in 2020 and 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.)

“I feel so happy for the boys,” Gladstone told the media. “It’s a great day.”

“It was Steve’s last race and I think we had that in the back of our minds all week. We really wanted to get this one for him. There was also a moment for the seniors as well when you know you’ll pass the rock for the last time and then you realize these are your last 20 strokes wearing a Y,” said Fergus Hamilton, 1V’s Australian stroke and Yale Captain. “It was definitely special, especially when you hear from your first year that you want to beat Harvard. No matter what results you get during the season, as long as you beat Harvard, you’ve had a successful season.”

Yale Associate Head Coach Mike Gennaro will now take over as the Craig W. Johnson ’68 Head Coach of Yale Heavyweight Crew.

Yale People

About the photo above, Tom Weil said:

This shot is of Bill Becklean ’58, the coxswain of the 1956 Yale Olympic gold medal eight (and then 5’8″), next to 6’6” Dan Williamson ’23, the Yale oarsman who won Olympic gold in the New Zealand eight at the recent Tokyo Olympics. Olympic gold medallists from 64 (or 65, if you count Tokyo as 2021, which it was) years apart standing together is pretty cool. And the relative sizes of the diminutive coxswain and the 6’6″ Kiwi says something about where modern Olympic physiques have come to is another impressive point. But maybe the most remarkable thing is that both of these men earned their gold medals as Yale undergraduates. I very much doubt that any other U.S. school has living Olympic rowing gold medallists who won their medals as undergraduates in different Olympiads.

Total Records
1 Varsity (Sexton Cup): Harvard 95 – Yale 60 (1 no result)
2 Varsity (F. Valentine Chappell Trophy): Harvard 77 – Yale 41
3 Varsity (New London Cup): Harvard 76 – Yale 41 (1 dead heat)