Some accuse Pescatore, a graduate of Penn, of underestimating the importance of preserving the H-Y Regatta. According to one rower, Yale’s Athletic Director has been pulling for the heavyweights to attend IRAs for many years, but the old coach was unwilling to diminish the H-Y tradition. Now that a new guard is in, the times they are a’changin.

“I don’t see how any race can outweigh a National Championship,” Pescatore wrote. “The Yale-Harvard race holds the top position in a separate category—it’s a tremendous and historic rivalry for those who compete in it.”

Parker and his disciples follow a different doctrine.

“It’s obviously good to be a part of Championships, but I don’t think it’s worth compromising Harvard-Yale,” Parker said.

The rowers themselves are even more adamant about the importance of H-Y.

“Harvard-Yale started the whole rowing scene in the U.S.,” Skey said. “It’s a shame it’s downplayed.”

McDaniel agreed.

“If I was forced to choose between Harvard-Yale and the IRA, I would pick the former,” McDaniel said. “It is something larger then the individuals [who participate in it].”

Since the H-Y varsity course is four miles long—many rowers call it “the marathon” of crew—it requires a very different type of training. Every year, the Harvard heavyweights spend about three weeks preparing for H-Y at a special training facility in Connecticut called Red Top. For many rowers, the Red Top experience is one of the most alluring aspects of Harvard crew.

“Red Top is just an absolutely amazing experience,” said senior Mike Blomquist. “You can really feel the history when you’re there bonding with the other heavyweights. I’ve loved every minute of it. I’m sad that the experience won’t be the same this year.”

“[The experience] is impossible to explain to someone who has never been to Red Top,” McDaniel said.

The team will still visit Red Top between IRAs and H-Y, but Parker said that before that time “training will be more geared towards IRAs.”

Because Harvard and Yale have chosen to honor tradition and not compete at IRAs for so many years, some cynics might accuse them of hiding behind the H-Y Regatta. In general, however, few believe that the two programs need to win a National Championship to prove their dominance.

“I don’t believe anyone needs a National Championship to prove themselves,” Pescatore wrote. “You only need to attend a National Championship if you want to win one!” Coaches outside the Ivy League, like No. 3 Wisconsin’s Chris Clark, agree.

”Harvard and Harry Parker are the gold standard of American rowing,” wrote Clark in an email.