Meanwhile, the 35th edition of the race in 1999 brought an estimated crowd of 300,000 people, who had an opportunity to enjoy free samples from Dunkin’ Donuts and Ben & Jerry’s as well as a variety of foods ranging from Italian sausages to clam chowder.
“The Head of the Charles has done a pretty aggressive job of promoting corporate interests, putting up tents for retailers and the like,” Parker says. “So it has a very different flavor to it [than when it began].”
This fact is one that still bothers MacMahon.
“I am concerned about the degree to which [the Regatta has] become commercial,” he says. “We built it into the largest regatta in the world without any one of us being paid to do anything. Now it has a budget of a million dollars a year.... It's because it became so big that it required corporate sponsorship to keep it going. It's sort of a necessary evil.”
THE MODERN ERA
By the mid-2000s, the race had expanded to include 1,500 boats and 7,000 rowers—turning away 1,000 entries—and had added a showcase of Boston bands. Today, it features 1,900 boats and 9,000 competitors—ranging in age from 14 to 84—as well as 55 events that routinely draw crowds of 300,000 picnickers, frisbee-throwers, and crew fans who enjoy the wide array of different foods, apparel, and product samples.
“[When I raced] there weren’t as many vendors and it wasn’t as commercial as it’s become,” Altekruse says. “It was much more of a cow pasture regatta back then.”
But the winding, 3.2-mile course beginning at DeWolfe Boathouse and ending just before Northeastern’s Henderson Boathouse remains the same, often challenging racers who are expected to navigate six bridges and a number of turns that often lead to collisions.
“There’s always the home-team advantage,” Gunderson says. “If you know how to cut the corners a bit, you’re that much better off.”
Though the event has also become more internationalized over the years—with rowers from 19 countries partaking in last year’s edition—many traditions have remained the same. The 1972 Olympic team has returned to the Regatta for a reunion every year since the Munich Games—tomorrow will be its 40th consecutive appearance—and the 1980 Olympic squad has done the same since its Games.
“There was a special chemistry of how we rowed and how we raced together,” Altekruse says of his 1980 team. “That chemistry has to some degree prevailed to this day and it allows us to come together really with just a Friday afternoon practice and be competitive year after year for the top two or three places, and I think that’s the most remarkable thing to me.”
Over the years, a number of Harvard and Radcliffe teams have found similar success, winning 40 Head championships in total. Last year’s men’s heavyweight crew won the premier eights race at the Regatta for the first time in 34 years, helping the Crimson earn the MacMahon Cup Regatta Point Trophy—named after the organizer—for the “non-traditional” (club or collegiate) team that demonstrates “overall rowing supremacy at the Regatta.”
“I’d say it was probably my favorite race ever, just because our success was such a surprise,” says junior Andrew Reed, who was one of the premier eights racers. “We went in with no expectations at all, so to come out winning just felt so great.”
That excitement is shared by many who participate in the Regatta, which since originating on a dreary October day has continued to grow over nearly a half-century and has now become one of the most revered traditions in the sport.
“It’s amazing when you have an event like that, when there’s so many crews on the water at one time,” Gunderson says. “It’s a real unique thing—there aren’t many places where you can see that.”
—Staff writer Scott A. Sherman can be reached at ssherman13@college.harvard.edu.