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Harvard intramural rowing, a nearly a century-old tradition, has glided back into undergraduates’ lives this spring after a several-year hiatus.
Since early March, students from all 12 houses have passed swimming tests, practiced technique on rowing machines, and climbed into boats on the Charles River — all in preparation for an end-of-semester competition. The results from the competition will culminate toward the final goal — the Straus Cup, the College’s annual multi-sport IM championship.
Adams House IM Chair Malachi C. Miller ’27 said rowing practice felt “surreal” because “we’re really connecting on a different level.”
“It’s fun to sit between two people that you kind of vaguely know, and you’re like, ‘I hope you don’t fall into the water,’” he said.
IM rowing first began during the World War II era to encourage recreational activity for physical health, according to Dan J. Boyne, director of recreational sculling for Harvard rowing.
The Weld Boathouse was constructed to give everyone at Harvard “a chance to get on the Charles River and row in some shape or form,” Boyne said. The IM program paused during the Covid pandemic, and ongoing Boathouse renovations prevented the return of IM rowing until this season.
This spring, IM rowing shifted to the Newell Boathouse on the Allston side of the Charles River. Training consists of indoor practice on rowing machines, gym exercises, and outdoor rowing on the training barge before practicing in a crew boat.
Lowell House IM Chair Christina Sorochinsky ’26 said she finds rowing “a unique opportunity to actually get out on the Charles.”
“It was cool to try to translate what I had seen and been practicing on the erg and stuff on the actual boat,” she said.
While the sport is open to participants of all experience levels, students are required to pass a swim test to obtain a swim card and attend at least three erging training sessions before they can train on the barge.
“Rowing can’t be done haphazardly,” Boyne said. “It must be done with a certain higher level of dedication.”
The higher level of commitment can make recruitment for the sport a bit more challenging, according to Adams resident Meredith E. Blanchard ’26.
“It’s not that much of a time commitment, but I think it’s intimidating to have an IM that you have repeated commitment to,” Blanchard said.
Sorochinsky said that rowing has gained “outsized” attention compared to other IM sports, with sometimes more than ten Lowellians showing up for a practice.
But not every house has had the same success.
“When I went to that water practice last week, I think the House who was practicing before us only had, I think, two or three people show up so they weren’t able to get out on the water,” Sorochinsky said.
Dunster House IM Chair Catherine A. Mignone ’26 said that rowing allows students to take part in a Harvard tradition.
Miller described rowing as “very much a Harvard-y thing.”
Lowell resident Xinran “Olivia” Ma ’26, who rowed for a competitive team in high school, said that IM rowing is “healing” her relationship with the sport.
“I’m just gonna go with my roommates across the river, and we’re gonna be on the water and hope that no one capsizes,” she said.
“And that’s all really fun,” Ma added.
