Heavyweight coach Liz O’Leary rowed for the 1980 Rowing Club in the Master Eight. Her boat placed fifth.
The women’s competition was marked by protest of Ivy League guidelines which mandate that all conference teams have periods of rest—formerly seven weeks, now 33 days—from their athletic schedules.
“I have friends who sing the same amount of time I cox and they’re not asked to take time off for their studies,” said freshman Rebecca Zeidel, the coxswain for the novice women.
All Ivy League women wore jerseys featuring a crossed-out seven as a sign of their objection.
The competitors bemoaned the distinction drawn between the Ivy Leaguers and the rest of the collegiate athletic world.
“It’s feeding into the negative academic stereotype of athletes that somehow athletes cannot do other things,” heavyweight co-captain Courtney Brown said. “It’s something we choose to do. We’re an NCAA team, not just Ivy League.”