The new attitude brought disappointing results all winter and in the first half of the spring season: not one victory.
The heavyweights tallied their first win April 26, against Yale. The victory marked a turning point, and the team finished with a winning season, took fourth in the Eastern Sprints, and qualified for the NCAA Championship tournament, in which they competed from Friday to Sunday.
Remus attributes her team's success this season to improved team spirit and mental intensity. "Convinced that our boat was fast, we had no competition within our team, we were on a collective mission...with so much heart and soul in it," she says.
Again and again, Remus modestly downplays her own achievements, pointing out that the team's success relies on every rower. Heavyweight rower Erin E. O'Malley '98, marvels at her teammate's modesty, adding that Remus has "done a wonderful job leading the team both in and out of the boat house."
Other rowers call her a role model, echoing the awe Remus felt for the senior rowers her first year.
"She is honestly one of the most inspirational women that I have ever met, as an athlete, a leader, a teammate. On the water, she is fiercely competitive. There is never any doubt that she goes out to win," says team coxswain Diane E. Marks '99.
When Remus receives her diploma tomorrow, marking her honors degree in East Asian Studies, her Harvard experience will be finished. Like many athletes, Dana has divided her Harvard years into two spheres: academic and athletic. She will eventually continue her academic sphere by pursuing a graduate degree in Chinese history.
According to her Senior Thesis Adviser, Richard S. Horowitz, Remus was extraordinarily motivated about her academics. "Without any doubt, she was the most disciplined student I have ever taught here," he wrote in an e-mail.
Horowitz attributes Remus's modest and community-minded perspective to her crew experience. "In some ways, I think her commitment to rowing--a sport which focuses on the group--has shaped her outlook in general," he wrote in an e-mail. "Much more than most, Dana appreciates the efforts that others put in."
Remus ascribes her personal success only to the success of Radcliffe Crew. She constantly praises the other rowers, especially those in the Novice Boats. In addition, she credits O'Leary and the long line of National Rowers to come out of the Radcliffe Crew Program.
Although she looks forward to rowing for National Coach Hartmut Buschbaker, she says she is sad to leave her teammates and the Radcliffe program. "Part of what I love about the sport is Radcliffe Crew," she says. "It will be a hard adjustment."
Remus follows a legacy of Radcliffe Crew alumnae who went on to national prominence. Twin sisters Mary and Betsy McCagg (both '89), Lindsay H. Burns '87, and Cecile Ulrich Tucker '91 all competed last summer in Atlanta.
Remus, although modest about her past, is sure of her future. "I do have confidence I will stick with it until I'm good enough," she says.