{image id=1372382 align=center size=large byline=true caption=Harvard Men's Heavyweight rowing had a strong performance over the weekend on the Charles.}

After a matchup against Navy and Penn, the Harvard Men’s Heavyweight Rowing team came out of the weekend victoriously, claiming both the coveted Adams and Clothier Cups.

Following an intense morning characterized by heavy rain and wind, the team managed to get good momentum going on for all of its races, taking first place in both the Varsity 8 race and the overall matchup.

The team competed for the cup on Saturday, April 26, on the Charles River in the early morning, earning a win characterized by both determination and momentum. The victory follows the team’s sweeping success against Princeton last week, where it claimed Compton Cup against the Tigers.

Varsity Eights

Promptly beginning around 7:35, the Crimson started the race with a clear flow of action and strategy. With coxswain senior Sreetej Digumathi and bow junior Jack Dorney, the Crimson Varsity 8 team started with an early lead, beating out Navy and Penn by a second or so.

However, this success was short-lived as the Crimson continued to navigate in a tight tie with Penn. After a few more seconds, the Harvard team took the lead in the race, ahead by a second or so at the beginning. This momentum continued up until around a minute into Harvard’s performance.

Around 100 seconds into the race, the Harvard team started to clearly separate from Penn, allowing the Harvard Varsity boat to fully take the lead over Penn at around the three-minute mark. In the end, Harvard overtook the Quakers by three full seconds. The win is what delivered the Compton Cup to Harvard, following a competitive set of matches.

Second Varsity Eight

The men’s Second Varsity 8 took place in continued rainy conditions, with wind speeds reaching up to eight miles per hour during the event.

The Harvard 2V team started to peak very early on during the race, taking the lead within the first ten seconds. Senior Liam Downing’s leadership has been pivotal to the successful performance of the Crimson team as a whole, in addition to the success of the 2v8 performance.

“We’ve got Liam Downing, Gabe Obholzer, and Ryan Link in a few of the leadership positions,” said Tom Siddall, an assistant coach for the heavyweight team. “Those guys have done a great job with everything from managing the training, managing the group, passing on some of the traditions of the team.”

At around five minutes into the race, Penn and Harvard seemed very close. However, Harvard worked hard to pull together a two-second lead to win the race. Navy, far behind the two Ivy League teams, pulled into the finish line around 13 seconds later.

Varsity Three

The rain continued to pour with this matchup, with Penn taking the early lead. Penn continued to maintain its first-place position until around a minute into the race, when Harvard mounted a push ahead. From then on, Harvard continued its dominant streak, with senior coxswain Cate Engels helping to drive her boat to keep pushing forward.

The end result was another win by Harvard, which won by an impressive seven seconds, with Penn and Navy following behind them.

Varsity Four

To close out the race, the Varsity 4 team went up in a closer matchup against Penn, which the Crimson won by two seconds, with Navy following 20 seconds behind.

Harvard’s boat was comprised of several sophomores and freshmen, including stroke George Burney, Adam Cech, and Jack Sulger.

Despite the young crew, the Harvard boat swiftly secured the win despite a close competition against Penn throughout to take home the Clothier Cup.

Harvard’s success came after a meet was defined by its ability to perform in tough weather and manage the competition as a whole.

According to Siddall, this is the result of the guys being “pretty used” to different weather conditions, especially for a “harsh day.”

“I think part of it is we try to just go out and trade, regardless of the conditions,” Siddall said.

Looking towards the rest of the season, Siddall noted that there are only two meets within Harvard’s regular season schedule before the team enters its championship season.

“We’ve got Northeastern next week, which is always a good race,” said Siddall, “and then we’ll go into the championship season.”

Another huge part of the team’s performance was their trust in each other, which allowed them to continue with success.

“Those guys kind of trusted what they’ve been working on, and trusted each other, and they were able to close it out,” said Siddall.

The team will race for the Smith cup against local rival Northeastern Wednesday morning after the meet was rescheduled from May 3. Partly sunny conditions are expected for this Charles River meet.

—Staff writer Neeraja S. Kumar can be reached at neeraja.kumar@thecrimson.com. Follow her on X @neerajasrikumar.