But despite the setback, the freshmen still managed to place ninth in the Freshman 8+ race, an event that included heavyweights.

“Persevering in that kind of adversity: that’s a challenge you don’t expect,” Muri said. “That’s just the nature of a head race. We saw a number of boats that had lost skegs. It’s pretty easy to tell a crew [without a skeg] by its steering.”

“We feel like they did well,” Butt added. “To their credit, they didn’t panic, they just rowed hard without a skeg.”

Harvard’s second boat, which consisted entirely of walk-ons, finished 30th in what was the first race for all of its members. The rookies turned it a time of 16:08.5. The time put the Crimson near the bottom of pack, but the boat still managed to beat Princeton’s second heavyweight 8+.

“I talked to them about how fast a race goes by,” Muri said. “It’s hard to know what to expect the first time. They felt like they rowed well, they had some balance at times. I can’t expect them to have a perfect race.”

—Staff writer Christina C. McClintock can be reached at ccmcclin@fas.harvard.edu.