Host Harvard Heavies Hound Huskies

Everyone's Mom has said, "never make the same mistake twice."

On this Mother's Day weekend, the Harvard heavyweight crew squad took these words to heart, beating previously-undefeated Northeastern in choppy waters on the Charles River Saturday morning. The victory followed the crew's first defeat of the season last weekend, also in rough conditions down in Annapolis, Md.

"Our mindset was more open this time for rough water," stroke John Amory said. "We were intent upon not losing again in bad conditions."

Because of the rough waves, the race was delayed 40 minutes and forced to be switched from Harvard's new course father down the river to its old course with the finish line in front of the Hyatt Regency Hotel. Even after the switch, the choppy waters and a strong headwind resulted in an extremely slow race, with Harvard winning in the time of 6:50.4.

The Crimson (8-1) pulled off the starting line well, but still trailed the Huskies by two seats after 500 meters. By the halfway point of the race, Harvard had pulled ahead by four seats before disaster almost struck.

A few bad strokes and a couple of crabs in the rough seas allowed Northeastern to gain a length on the heavies within five strokes and suddenly the Crimson was in jeopardy of losing for the second week in a row.

"I was really surprised by some of the bad strokes we did," Captain Steve Wayne said, "but we were used to it from last week and were able to regain our from."

Northeastern was unable to hold its high pace from the beginning of the race, however, and its strength waned into the powerful headwind. The Crimson roared back and won the race by an impressive six-second margin.

"When you're racing into a headwind," Amory said, "it becomes a perseverance test, just like any other racing sport. [Northeastern] stressed the first 1000 meters of the race and probably lost because of it. They're probably just as disappointed to lose their first race of the season in bad conditions as we were last week."

"There are headwind crews and there are tailwind crews," Harvard's eight-man added, "but the good crews can win in both types of conditions."

Mom Knows Best

Thanks to Mom and a little perseverance, the Crimson joined the ranks of those good crews that have proved they can win in all kinds of conditions. With a big win over Princeton in perfect racing conditions two weeks ago and this weekend's victory, the heavies are warmed up and ready for the EARC Sprints Sunday at Lake Quinsigamond in Worcester.

"It's going to be different next week," Amory said. "Two-lane racing depends a lot on momentum, but six-lane racing is like the [Kentucky] Derby. It's different, but we're excited about our chances."