“We lost by a bowdeck to Navy, a crew that hadn’t done much that year,” Mercaldi said. “It made you realize that everyone is going to be going into a race thinking they have a shot at winning.”

Harvard had previously overpowered its opponents with breakaway speed in the first 1500 meters, placing itself so far ahead that walking back through in the final 500 would be nearly impossible with opponents too tired and short on time to accomplish anything.

The Midshipmen defied the Crimson’s strategy and ended the dream of a perfect season.

“We lost the Navy race in the last 500 meters,” Rogers said. “We were ahead until the last 500 and we lost it in the sprint. That kicked us into gear to train for the whole race.”

Just a week later, the improvement was clear. Harvard defeated both Princeton and Yale by more than three seconds to close out its dual season with just a single loss and a new sense of momentum following the solid victory over its archrivals.

Any other year it would’ve been the Crimson’s time to shine at Eastern Sprints—the talented team overcoming its midseason adversity with poise and skill, overcoming its flaws and persevering to capture the title that had just weeks before been almost guaranteed.

But that isn’t what happened. Harvard’s day in the sun would have to wait.

Despite making the Grand Finals for a record 58th consecutive time, the Crimson would be upstaged by the Tigers who had been so passive in defeat just two weeks prior.

“Princeton won by a fairly surprising margin,” Rogers said. “We had a solid race in the finals but not our best piece.”

The Tigers coasted in a sheltered lane while top-seeded Harvard stumbled all the way down to fourth.

“I’d say in terms of winning the national championship, the defining moment was at the eastern sprints four weeks before when we finished out of the medals,” Mercaldi said. “We knew we were better than that. That really lit a fire under us.”

But the disheartening finish was not the last word to be written on the Crimson’s agonizing journey to the top.

“We just had a really grueling three weeks between sprints and IRAs where we just hammered out the practices,” Rogers said.

And as they have every odd year since 1991, those practices resulted in the national title.

Filling the Gaps