Nobody Lost

A season of frustration following several years of losing preceded the Yale sweep of the Thames river in 1996. The varsity, winning over Harvard for the first time in over a decade, lead nearly the entire race. The JV, long known as a "fly and die" crew, built a large lead that Harvard's furious closing sprint couldn't overcome. The freshmen dominated and even the 3V/2F combination won the previous day.

The jubilation in the Yale complex was the apex of a season of internecine competition that sometimes strained the bonds of friendship between the oarsmen. In years past, the second varsity was expect to push the varsity, followed by the lightweight varsity and the heavy "freesh." This familiar pattern was disturbed by that year's freshman class, who dogged the varsity's wake, beat the lightweights a majority of the time and dominated the second varsity. The "freesh" were cocky, knowing they were going to Henley after their win at Eastern Sprints. Only a weak Harvard freshman boat stood in the way. Looking for tougher competition, the freshman coach had his crew race time trials over the 3 mile JV distance, rather than the traditional 2 mile freshman race. The JV was not amused.

Watching possible future spots in the varsity melt away to the freesh, the JV's frustration had been growing all season. While a few members had shuffled back and forth into the varsity, this was more a sign of trouble in the top boat than their ability. They knew the head coach was looking for a lineup. The question was if next year's lineup would include any of them, with the ability of the freesh so apparent. The first time trial had not gone well, with the JV losing to the freesh and not coming close to the varsity. Only a heavy effort held off the combination crew, fortified by five members of the undefeated second freshman boat.

The varsity was also discontented. Twice they had faced Harvard during the season and lost both races. Coming nearly a length behind in 5th place at Sprints was bad enough, with the freesh jubilantly collecting shirts from their comeback win. A much-publicized race on the Atlanta Olympic course earlier between Yale, Harvard, Oxford and Cambridge hadn't been any closer. Yale had only beaten Cambridge, and trailed Harvard by more than an length.

Furthermore, the varsity had been through three different lineups, with a different stroke in each. In desperation, the head coach had even starboard stroked the boat for a week, looking for a spark. Yet the freesh still sniffed at their heels, forcing the varsity to higher efforts to hold them off. In frustration, a varsity member had been heard to yell "GO AWAY!" during a 5 minute piece in which the freesh refused to concede more than 5 seats.

The final time trial only made the freesh more cocky. As the varsity started a mile away and the freshmen and JV waited at the 3 mile start, the freshman coach forbid his charges to use their flutter until after 2 miles had passed. As the varsity came even, off the JV and freesh went. The JV had heard the command and pressed aggressively. Their races had always been of the "fly and die" sort, taking a large lead and holding off the other crews if possible. Over two miles, the JV built a full length lead over the freesh, though the varsity broke away by a length of open water. The JV didn't care. An entire year of frustration was being burned in this race. Happy shouts were heard in the boat. Then came the last mile pole.

What followed might best be described as an interception returned for a touchdown, followed by a fumble on the kickoff, returned for a touchdown. The flutter unleashed by the freshman boat was that devastating. In twenty furious strokes, they went from a length down on the JV to a length up. From following the JV to challenging the varsity yet again. Video taken in the coaches' launch recorded the disbelieving curse from the head coach. While the varsity was forced to respond with a flutter of their own, the JV tried to figure out what happened. They took back three seats before the freesh started their sprint sequence, trying to stay with the top boat.

The varsity house was gloomy that afternoon. Friction continued with the strutting freesh. The JV didn't like their chances against Harvard. Nobody mentioned the varsity race.

As race day approached, practice work against other boats slacked off. The oarsmen started to come together a little. Then came the uprising of the combination crew, the day before the race. After crushing Harvard over the upper 2 miles of the course, they took The Rock, vowing it would be blue the next morning (this is a subject for another story.) At 10pm that night, they set it afire in the shape of a Y. Their yells could be heard across two miles of water, and the Yale camp answered with screams of their own.

The freshman event the next day was dramatic only for its dominance. The Yale coxswain vowed to defeat Harvard by more than the combination's margin of 18 seconds. He drove his crew like a crazed charioteer, ignoring instructions from the coach not to flutter or sprint if he was far in front. Exhausted, the freesh shouted to "Time it!" as they crossed the line. They won by 23.



The JV event was held as the winds began to increase. Blasting out to a two length lead, the JV battled the rising waves. Harvard's closing charge was blunted by the wind, waves and refusal of the JV to yield. They won by less than a boatlength.

The varsity race was delayed as the wind kicked up higher. Whitecaps appeared on the racecourse. Secluded in the manager's house, the 9 members had nothing to do but talk to each other. Having every other boat in the house win increased their confidence. If the JV could win, if the varsity could hold off those dominant freesh, then they could take Harvard. As one member said later, "We raced every practice. Battles, every practice. Having everyone else win told us that we could, and that made a huge difference."

Stroking the Yale varsity was Peter Stroble, an international-level lightweight. He had left the lightweight team to race in the Harvard-Yale regatta, and had been put in the stroke seat that week. It was enough time. Starting just before darkness, Stroble led the Yale eight down the 4 mile course at a soul-searing rate of 37 strokes per minute. Harvard waited for Yale to slack off from this impossible pace. By the final mile mark, it was apparent Stroble would not yield, and the rest of the boat would not give this decade-anticipated win away. As Yale crossed the line, the rest of the team jumped into the river, jubilantly swimming out to the boat.

That varsity win was built by a senior class that had trained hard. It was also a complete team win, from the second freesh to the varsity stroke. The close competition all season had forged a toughness in the varsity members that served them well during Stroble's incredible charge. They never dropped off the power or allowed rush to creep into the rhythm. They simply called upon the push the lower boats on the team gave them all year.

Categories: Memories, Yale, Rowing, Motivational, Regattas