It is the symphony of motion which reactivates these athletes, the melodious linkage of exhausted mind and body which lingers through defeat and victory alike. And most important, the promise of another year, another race, another try.

For most of those who rowed last Saturday in the varsity boat, however, this year was their last. Varsity stroke George Hunnewell, seven man Rich Kennelly, five man Claude Sirlin, JV seven man Andy Hawley, six man Alex Litvak, three man Gordon Gwynne-Timothy have rowed their last Harvard-Yale race. Rowed it and won it by 10 boat lengths, the 10th largest margin since World War I. Some, like roomates Hunnewell and Kennelly, have never lost.

Win or lose last Saturday, though, they and their classmates, Phil Mote and Lionel Leventhal--who were victorious in another race in Syracuse, N.Y. Saturday--helped put Harvard rowing back on track.

As sophomores, the seniors broke a four-year Yale winning streak at the New London race. They journeyed to Henley and captured rowing's most prestigious prize, the Grand Challenge Cup. And best of all, they have remained with the program throughout their years at Harvard--nine of the 16 oarsmen in the varsity and JV at Yale last Saturday are members of the class of 1987.

"Needless to say, it was the best of the four years," says Rich Kennelly. "Yale didn't give us much competition, [but] within the shell, it just kept getting better and better."

Tomorrow, Kennelly and his friends who played a major role in the revivification of the Harvard varsity heavyweight program will be graduated from this College. Their places in the boat will be eagerly but respectfully filled by others.

The varsity's win at Yale improved Harvard's record in the competition to 71-51. No doubt, that race, just as the races at Henley in 1985, New London in 1985, Syracuse in 1987, and every single practice on the Charles, will be the talk of reunions to come, as the figures of the oarsmens' minds re-run the watery marathons where their ghosts still sit expectantly at the catch, waiting for another race to begin.