Harvard was already the underdog in the race before Kubis’ illness. The Brookes crew had returned seven of eight rowers from a boat that finished second to last year’s Harvard freshman boat in the Temple Cup.

Yet Harvard triumphed despite the last-second substitution and made Manning proud. The freshmen and O’Donoghue could easily have given in and lost a race that they were expected to lose anyway. Instead they pulled off one of the most dramatic wins of the regatta.

“It’s a reflection of the guys in the crew in that [the substitution] didn’t reflect in their performance,” Manning said. “It provides an easy excuse not to suffer. But they fought rather than thought about it.”

Britannia Cup

Much of the challenge behind the all-Harvard final in the Britannia Cup was simply finding out what to do with the rowers from the second varsity, almost entirely made up of sophomores who were ineligible to race in the Temple Cup because of their victory there last year. The first plan was to create one coxed four for the Britannia Cup and one lighter coxless four for the Visitors’ Challenge Cup.

“Splitting up the eight allowed everyone in the boat to try something fresh, which we needed,” said sophomore Will Riffelmacher, originally assigned to the coxless four. “It also forced us to become better rowers technically, as the fours are less stable boats than the eights.”

But as the teams trained in Cambridge, it became clear that the coxless boat was having trouble steering. The decision was made to switch the coxless boat into the Britannia Cup, meaning that an all-Harvard final would be the best possible outcome.

It was the formerly coxless boat that took on the Harvard ‘B’ moniker and went on to top the heavier Harvard ‘A’ boat to win the Cup.

The Harvard ‘B’ boat dominated all competition it faced. Of its four races leading up to the final, none finished closer than a length and three-quarters back. While most of the Crimson’s club opposition was relatively unfamiliar compared to university boats, the Harvard crews were confident that they would win due to their heavy training in the fall that many of the club teams lacked.

“Our plan racing against strong club teams was to hang close at the start, and then allow our fitness to let us pull away in the later stages of the races,” Riffelmacher said.

The Harvard ‘A’ boat had much closer races leading to the final, including one of the closest races of the regatta in the semifinals against a South African club which was decided by a mere third of a length. Riffelmacher said the race was too close to call from shore.

With two boats in the final, a Harvard Henley title was guaranteed. As the ‘A’ the boat struggled out of the start, the ‘B’ boat gained a quick lead and held steady for the length and a quarter victory.

Ladies’ Challenge Plate

Unlike the Temple and Britannia Cups which featured a full slate of 32 competitors, the tougher Ladies’ Challenge Plate fielded just six boats. With a first-round bye, the Harvard first varsity required just two races to win the title.