The Harvard heavyweight crew swept No. 7 Brown this weekend and successfully defended the Stein Cup, meriting its No. 2 rank in the nation and continuing its roll through the East.
Thanks to a fast start, the Bears took a lead of two seats off of the start, but the Crimson pulled up in the next 20 strokes, dealing with choppy water in the first quarter of the race.
“Brown’s a very strong-starting crew, but we tend to focus less on the very beginning of the race and more on just wearing down the crew,” senior coxswain Jim Omartian said.
Harvard improved on its advantage during the remainder of the race, finishing with about a length between the boats and a 4.5-second victory.
The Crimson’s fruitfulness extended into the 2V race, where Harvard’s boat was able to take the lead from the start and dominate down the course for a three-length win over the Bears.
“Their boat beat us last year so we really wanted to win,” said sophomore coxswain Jesse Oberst, referring to his experience in the first freshman boat last year. “In the first 100 meters, our goal was to take it back a bit.”
The regatta is a testament to the Crimson’s depth, with the wins in the 3V and first freshman events, by margins of 5.0 and 4.9 seconds, respectively. Harvard also raced a second freshman four and a fourth varsity four against a mixed Brown four as the Bears didn’t have a second freshman eight. Brown’s four finished behind both Crimson fours.
“We have a huge sophomore class and a pretty big senior class,” Mallinson said. “Everyone doing so well and winning by such large margins—it bodes well for this season and for the next seasons.”
“It’s really exciting to be in a program as fast as we are this year,” Oberst said. “It’s great to be in a boathouse that’s as deep and as talented as we are.”
Next weekend, Harvard faces No. 5 Princeton and MIT in a battle for the Compton Cup. Last year, the Tigers beat out the Crimson by 2.3 seconds.
“There’s definitely pressure in the race against Princeton,” senior Hugo Mallinson said. “Traditionally, even when they’re not ranked highly, they always come out really well.”
“Princeton is always a good competitor, but Princeton hasn’t won on the Charles since our coach has been coaching,” Omartian said.
Harvard Coach Harry Parker has been coaching since 1963.
Harvard Lightweights
Though the weather was beautiful on the Ithaca Inlet, the results of the Matthews Cup proved disappointing for the No. 5 Harvard lightweight crew that failed ton win any of its races on Saturday.
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