What began as an unremarkable foray into the world of rowing has­ in retrospect­­ become a launching pad for a successful seven-year career in the sport for lightweight men’s crew captain Jeff Overington.

“I started rowing in ninth grade because a few of my friends were doing it, and they needed a fourth guy to row a four,” Overington said. “We had a great coach and won all of our races, so I decided to stick with it.”

Early success in crew, along with good friends and coaches, have kept the Kingston, Ontario native hooked on rowing as he heads into his eighth year with the sport.

“The guys I started rowing with are still some of my best friends,” Overington said. “And one of my first coaches played a great part in my decision to keep rowing—he taught us how to row well and was a very easy-going guy.”

After two years in the Kingston Rowing Club and Kingston Collegiate, Overington was selected for the Canadian junior national team in his junior year of high school.

His success on the national stage caught the attention of the Harvard coaching staff, and although he had previously been planning on attending college in Canada, the Crimson’s storied rowing program prompted him to consider spending his college years in the U.S.

After competing in the 2004 Head of the Charles Regatta, Overington stayed in Cambridge for a few extra days, surveying the campus and Newell Boathouse. Although he enjoyed the classes he visited and the Cambridge atmosphere during the recruiting trip, it wasn’t until after he took a ride in head coach Charley Butt’s launch during a practice that Overington made up his mind about attending Harvard.

“When I went out in the launch, I was really impressed by how the practices were organized and the high quality of the team,” Overington said. “Charley’s very technical, and he has a good eye, so he can see what’s going on in the boat and see what needs to be done to get faster. He’s also a pretty relaxed guy most of the time—guys on the team have a lot of respect for him as a coach.”

Since coming to Cambridge, Overington has experienced first hand the ups and downs of collegiate rowing—the team finished second at the IRA National Championships for two years in a row before failing to even field a varsity eight at nationals last spring.

“We had some great races in my sophomore year,” Overington said. “We were able to continually improve through the year and ended the dual season with an open-water win at the Harvard-Yale-Princeton race. Last season was disappointing—we’ve put it behind us, and we’re focusing on this season.”

As he takes the helm as captain of the lightweight squad this year, he hopes to be a part of changing the team’s fortunes and steering them in a different direction.

“As a rower, he’s always been very good technically, very powerful,” senior coxswain Kevin He said. “As a leader this year, he wants to have fun with the team, but he knows the boundaries, and he makes sure we get on our stuff—he’s always good with responsibilities.”

“It’s my job to keep the team organized and make sure things are moving in the right direction so that we’ll be in a good spot in the spring,” Overington added.

After a long summer away from rowing on the Charles, Overington welcomes the opportunity to return to the water when he meets his first challenge as captain in this weekend’s Head of the Charles. The Crimson’s varsity crews will compete with almost all of the other crews in the league, and a strong performance could make a bold statement to the rest of the field.

Nothing would make Overington happier.

“I really like rowing—just practicing, training, and racing,” Overington said. “Most importantly, I like winning races—it’s probably the best feeling.”

—Staff writer Lucy D. Chen can be reached at lucychen@fas.harvard.edu.