8 September 2023

By Göran R Buckhorn

Both Yale and Harvard have elevated two of their coaches.

The other day, Mike Gennaro, who took over the position as Craig W. Johnson ’68 Head Coach of Heavyweight Crew from retiring Steve Gladstone, announced that Henri LaLiberte had been promoted to assistant coach of the heavyweight crew program.

LaLiberte started out as a volunteer assistant coach at Yale in 2021, not only coaching the fifth and sixth varsity eights but also supporting the other coaching staff with operations.

Mike Gennaro said: “I am pleased to announce the promotion of Henri to a full-time assistant. Over the last two years, it has been abundantly clear that Henri is passionate about coaching and deeply cares about the success and well-being of our student-athletes. His work ethic is outstanding, and he provides our coaching staff with a specific skill set that will make an immediate impact on our program.”

“The last two years as a volunteer have truly felt like a graduate degree in our sport, both in learning daily from Coach Gladstone and from my mentor Coach Gennaro,” Henri LaLiberte said. “To be able to give back to the team that has given me so much is truly a privilege.”

LaLiberte spent four years coxing the top men’s eight on the Purdue University rowing program and graduated from the university in 2020 with a degree in Organizational and Strategic Management. Prior, in 2018, LaLiberte coxed the U.S. Men’s Eight to fourth place at the World University Rowing Championships in Shanghai, China. He has also coached youth and masters rowing at the Duluth Rowing Club in Duluth, Minnesota.

While at Yale, in July 2023, LaLiberte was selected as an assistant coach alongside Gladstone for the U.S. Men’s Senior National Team.

“It’s an incredible honor to be able to start my full-time coaching career here at Yale and I can’t wait to get back on the Housatonic working with the best group of athletes a coach could ask for,” LaLiberte said.

In the beginning of September, news came from Harvard men’s heavyweight crew that Patrick Lapage ’12 had been promoted from assistant coach to associate head coach. The coming season, 2023-2024, will be Lapage’s 11th on the Crimson’s coaching staff.
 
“Patrick was a three-year varsity stroke seat for Harry Parker and led the team to Ivy and Henley Royal Regatta titles,” said Charley Butt, The Bolles-Parker Head Coach for Harvard Men’s Heavyweight Crew. “Patrick’s outstanding qualities as an oarsman and team leader now extend to his role as coach, mentor, and recruiter of outstanding Harvard oarsmen and Ivy-title winning crews. Very few coaches have led crews to Ivy titles as an athlete and coach.”

Harvard Men’s Heavyweight Crew website talks about Lapage’s coaching years at Harvard:
 
Having coached the 2V since 2017, Lapage, who also serves as the team’s recruiting coordinator, has led the Crimson to top-5 national finishes in nine of the last 10 seasons. In his first year directing the group, Harvard finished in fourth place at the 2017 Eastern Sprints and fifth at the IRA National Championship, only to flip the results 12 months later (5th at Eastern Sprints, 4th at IRAs). In 2019, Lapage helped the Crimson win the Eastern Sprints title, the Harvard-Yale race and the Prince Albert Challenge Cup at the Henley Royal Regatta. More recently, Lapage coached the boat to a victory at the 2023 Eastern Sprints and a fourth-place performance at IRAs. 

Prior to taking over the 2V, Lapage coached the 3V and 4V from 2013-16. In 2015, Lapage guided the 3V to a silver medal at IRAs and the 4V to the Grand Final, with both crews winning the Harvard-Yale race. The next season, he coached both boats to a silver at Eastern Sprints and the 3V to a second-place finish at IRAs, culminating with the third varsity defeating rival Yale.

And something for the HTBS Types:

Patrick Lepage is from Shrewsbury in England and has a nice rowing pedigree. Patrick and his brother Sam were coached by their father, Philip, at Shrewsbury School. Philip’s father, Michael, rowed in the winning Cambridge crew in the 1948 Boat Race. Most of the members in that crew later won a silver medal in the eights at the 1948 Olympic Games, with rowing being held in Henley-on-Thames. Two years later, Michael Lapage took a bronze medal in the eights at the 1950 British Empire Games.