“I think they’re feeling encouraged by today, but they also know they have a long road ahead,” Yu said.

Saturday

While the Crimson found flat, if slightly rainy, conditions and a strong current in its favor on the Schuylkill River in Philadelphia, Pa., the course itself added intrigue.

A turn in the course at 700 meters resulted in a staggered start and uncertainty about boats’ positions.

In the varsity race, Harvard thought that it had a lead on Cornell, and knew it was ahead of Penn, but was only sure after passing the turn. After leaping that obstacle, however, the Crimson’s cushion was certain and Harvard opened its season with a three-second win over the Big Red and an 11-second victory over the Quakers.

Harvard boats fell in the third varsity and freshman events, but a battling win in the second varsity race gave the Crimson its second triumph.

Harvard was almost a length ahead of Cornell when the race hit the turn, where the Crimson, in the outside lane, lost two or three seats and fought exhaustion.

Harvard held on to its precarious lead and finished less than two seconds ahead of the Big Red.

“I was really impressed with how my guys pushed back,” said junior coxswain Dave Kang. “I have a bunch of tough guys in my boat and they’re not people that really want to pace themselves and that kind of behavior tends to lead to some breakdowns. We focused mainly on maintaining power through the sprint and letting the stroke rating come up naturally.”

—Staff writer Jessica T. Lee can be reached at lee45@fas.harvard.edu.