Rowing Opportunities at Harvard

By Alvin Powell

Contributing Writer

You've seen the shells gliding gracefully along the Charles and thought it would be nice to try it for yourself.

Lucky for you, Harvard provides lots of opportunities to learn -- for students and other members of the University community.

Students interested in team rowing have several options. Most prominent are the Harvard men's crew and the Radcliffe crew, which face off against other colleges and universities.

Those teams require a serious commitment, though, with workouts six to eight times per week, according to Harvard's Recreational Sculling Coach Dan Boyne, author of the book Essential Sculling, scheduled to be released next year.

The rowing season starts in the fall with longer races such as the Head of the Charles (which took place this month). The season then transitions to indoor training in the winter, and picks up again with shorter races in the spring. Interested students should contact either men's Coach Harry Parker at the Newell Boat House or women's Coach Liz O'Leary at the Weld Boat House.

For students unable to make the considerable time commitment, Harvard's Houses have intramural teams each spring that practice about three times a week and compete against crews from other Houses.

Graduate students can also compete in several different rowing clubs, including those fielded by the Business School, the Law School, and the Kennedy School of Government.

For other students as well as faculty and staff, Harvard has a recreational sculling program, which uses single boats. The program operates out of the Weld Boat House and is open to all holders of a Harvard I.D. who also have a swim test card. (The cards prove the holder can swim 100 yards and are available at the Malkin Athletic Center.)

The sculling program is run on a walk-in basis, Monday through Friday. After some initial coaching, participants in the program can go to the river at their convenience, grab a boat, and head out.

"They can come down whenever they can fit it into their day, and they don't have to wait around for seven other athletes [to fill an eight-person boat]," Boyne said. "A lot of learning to scull is just going out and practicing on the water."

Those interested in recreational sculling this fall will have to hustle though. Boyne said the program closes for the winter in early November. It will reopen in April.