Harvard Headlines Men's Rowing Showing at Head Of The Charles
2012 Head Of The Charles: Website | Results | Live Webcast
Courtesy of Head Of The Charles Regatta®, Harvard Athletic Communications and Princeton Athletic Communications
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- Excitement and controversy surrounded the Ivy League men's crews presence at the 48th Head of the Charles Regatta®.
In the heavyweight competition, Harvard was clipped by Washington's top boat by five seconds; however, unofficial results had Harvard as champions after Washington had been assessed a 10-second penalty for a buoy violation. Washington appealed the penalty, had its appeal upheld and won its third men's championship eights in five years in a controversial conclusion.
The Crimson's second-place showing still led the way to securing
the Point Trophy as the top club, school, college or university.
Harvard also had top-10 results in the championship fours (eighth)
and club eights (sixth and 10th). The sixth-place boat was a mix of
varsity heavyweight athletes, while the tenth-place finisher was
the second freshman heavyweight eights.
Princeton's heavyweight eight took fourth among all collegiate
crews (fifth overall) in an adjusted time of 14:52.55. The Tigers
did top a pair of New England powers, including reigning Ivy League
champion Brown.
The Bears' freshman eight kicked off the regatta in grand
fashion, taking the top spot in the club eights in a course record
time of 14:41.27. The race also had Yale finishing second,
Princeton third and a second Brown boat, which included both
varsity and freshman oarsman, eighth.
Harvard lightweight crew captured its first Head of the Charles
win in the lightweight eights event since 1975 and sixth overall
victory in the race Oct. 21 in Boston. The first-place finish gave
Harvard its 41st overall medal in the history of the event.
Harvard's boat rowed the three-mile Charles River route in
14:35.71, well ahead of its closest competitor. USRowing, which
placed second, was nearly 12 seconds off Harvard's pace and
Princeton was a distant third in 14:58.24. Yale was fifth at
14:59.70. The USRowing boat featured former Ivy rowers Kyle
Traub (Cornell), Anthony Fahden
(Dartmouth) and Robin Prendes and
Christian Klein (Princeton).