Fresh Perspective in the Elm City

by Steven A. Conn

This is one of the most famous traditions in the history of college sports, one that often defines a rower’s career at either Cambridge or New Haven. Winning on this day could be as significant as anything these student-athletes accomplish in four years at their prestigious institutions.

In the regatta that features such a unique distance and course, experience in the event would seem to be at a premium.
Thirty-ninth-year Crimson head coach Harry Parker, who has seen everything in this race during his long tenure, has nine seniors on his roster, including a pair in the varsity boat. Yale, on the other hand, has just one senior oarsman and a class of 2003 coxswain who has seen just one of these events. In addition, Yale’s two new coaches have never seen America’s oldest intercollegiate contest.

For the first time in 33 years, the Bulldogs are led by a head coach who has no experience with the Harvard rivalry. In addition, Yale is making its first trip to the Intercollegiate Rowing Association Championships in 106 years (Harvard will also attend), one that will land the Bulldogs at Gales Ferry for what may be their shortest stay ever.

These variables seem to put the Bulldogs at a disadvantage heading into the 138th edition, but don’t think the Yale heavyweight program is headed in the wrong direction. A new perspective and a change in philosophy is exactly what the doctor ordered in New Haven.

The Blue varsity eight did finish 11th overall at the Eastern Sprints and the prospects for the IRAs – the official collegiate national championship -- might not be much better. However, one never knows what will happen in a four-mile race, even if it is against the 2003 Eastern Sprints Champions.

There is also a new blue influence on these Yale rowers and it’s one mixed with red rather than white. Head coach John Pescatore and freshman mentor Justin Angle both wore the red and blue of the University of Pennsylvania (as did Harry Parker) as collegiate rowers, and despite embarking on different post-graduate paths managed to join forces on the Housatonic River.
According to the Bulldog varsity coach, the Penn experience might serve as preparation for the famous regatta. Penn graduation typically is immediately after the Sprints, so the remaining three or four weeks are like a training camp since classes are finished. In fact, one spring he and his teammates actually lived in the boathouse on the Schuylkill River while training for Henley.

When asked about the coincidence of the new Penn influence in this rivalry, Pescatore said, “I guess Penn guys really like rowing. Either way, one or two Penn grads will be happy with the results of the racing.”

The Yale heavyweight varsity, which has won two national titles in three attempts at the IRA, had not attended that event since 1897 because the date conflicted with preparations for the regatta or the event itself. In fact, most people involved in the most famous collegiate boat race would tell you that the national event paled in significance for the two programs.

Pescatore, who captained a Sprints champion Penn boat in 1986 and later became a two-time U.S. Olympic oarsman, has a simple answer to the question about heading to the IRA this spring, one that takes a very different view than the “Old Blue” perspective. “It's the National Championship - all the best teams will be there,” he said.

The first-year Yale mentor, just the seventh Eli heavyweight head coach since 1923, is ready to be indoctrinated into the tradition of the Yale-Harvard event.

“I'm very excited about it. The alums and kids describe it as a great trip,” said Pescatore, the 2000 U.S. Rowing Coach of the Year. “It's a training camp though, and I've been to many camps before, so it won't be completely new. Getting to know the race course and river, however, will be very important.”

It has been impossible for Pescatore to even take one trip to Gales Ferry since he took the job last summer through the sprints regular season. His wife, Anne Martin, and twins Jake and Tom, are still living in Princeton. He has tried to get down there as often as possible, which makes for a more hectic schedule while he is trying to find a new home for them, not to mention making faster Yale boats and recruiting new student-athletes. However, the Bulldogs did manage to sneak up to the Ferry for a couple of rows and one overnight stay before the IRAs.

"We are taking our preparation for the Harvard race very, very seriously. In fact, I rowed for Harry Parker at one time while training for the National Team, so I'm honored to be involved in anything in which he is associated. And the chance to coach against Harry in the Yale-Harvard duel is an incredible opportunity, said Pescatore. “What better way to honor someone's abilities than to do everything possible to try and beat them!"

Yale captain Sam Limmer, the only current Eli who has a win over Harvard (2000 freshman race) and the only one of six class of 2003 rowers to stay in the program, sees this spring as a milestone for the squad.

“This year is remarkably different than years past. Since we decided to go to the IRA, this year is a turning point in the history of the program and may effect the future preparation and treatment of the race as a result,” said Limmer, an Arlington, Va., native who also stated that Harvard has had plenty of fast crews but they are not unbeatable.

The Bulldog boat leader also has an interesting perspective on his coaches’ inaugural regatta.

“The coaches, in a way, are like the freshmen that come to the Ferry each year for the first time: they have preconceptions of what the camp will be like but will not understand it until they actually experience it. Although we are at the Ferry for only a few days, I think they will be pleasantly surprised and have a heightened appreciation for the tradition. I do not mean to say that the coaches are naive or will underestimate the race; it's one of those things that becomes special only when you enjoy it first hand,” said Limmer.

Pescatore is not so concerned with the idea of his youngsters – there are five sophomores, three juniors and senior coxswain Molly Wojcik in the varsity boat -- leading the Elis against the heavily favored Cantabs, nor is he worried about the change in preparations.

“Some of our athletes see it as a chance to become part of Yale Rowing history, especially since Harvard has really dominated the rivalry over the years,” he said. “Our training is not that different than for the 2000 meter racing, but we will do a lot of four-mile practice races.”

Wojcik, who rowed for the Yale women’s team (2nd novice four and 3rd varsity bow) her first two years in New Haven, coxed the heavyweight JV last spring after the Yale coaches convinced her to make the switch.

“They [coaches] told me this would be the best way for me to make a top boat, and I was not as competitive as I wanted to be in the women’s program. I knew they were desperate for a coxswain and I fit the bill,” said the 5-foot-8, 122-pound coxswain, one of two females (Kara Benson ’06 is the other) in the heavyweight program. “This [cox role] has been my greatest challenge at Yale. It’s a very different feel on the men’s team. I went from a passive bow person to a very active role. I went from a very quiet person to the loudest person on the boat. I have to decide what everyone will do at every moment.”

The boat with the most potential might be Eli freshman. The class of 2006 produced Yale’s only heavyweight grand final participant at the May 11 Sprints. They are led by Angle, who led his Quaker varsity boat to a Sprints title 10 years after Pescatore.

“The frosh are a great group of young men. They work very hard and have a great spirit about them,” said Angle, who came with Pescatore from Penn last summer. “Although it is not the most athletic group, we envision these guys as the foundation for the culture we are trying to build. They do everything that is asked of them and really want to get faster.”

Angle knows a little about rowing and being a top-notch athlete. He is a competitive triathlete who has finished three Ironman Triathlons, including the 2002 Ironman World Championships in Hawaii. In July 2002, he was the 21st overall and eighth amateur finisher at the U.S. National Ironman Championships at Lake Placid, N.Y., with a time of 9:48.22. In addition, he is a two-time USA Triathlon All-American and in 2001 qualified for the World Age-Group Championships.

Pescatore is now well aware of the traditions of the regatta and Yale crew, but he may not be congnasant of his predecessors. He is not paddling through uncharted waters as a non-Yalie. Only seven of the 17 coaches who have led the Bulldogs were Yale graduates, including Dave Vogel ’70 (1990-2002), who was a highly decorated lightweight oarsman and also the first Eli to coach the heavyweights since Averill Harriman in 1914.
And rowing four miles is not an uncharted area for all of the Yale rowers. Pescatore, Angle and Jamie Snider, the coach of the junior varsity boat, have lined up their vessels four miles upstream of the Gilder Boathouse more than a half dozen times this spring. After rowing in their respective boats up to the New Haven Rowing Club, each boat captain (they change every week) selects his own lineup and they race down to Gilder. The races this spring have all been very competitive, and many have been rowed at extremely high cadences.

“This really helps us get in the proper mindset fosters team chemistry,” said Angle. “It also enhances the intensity and brings out a lot of pride in our guys.”

Chemistry, intensity and pride all must be working simultaneously for the 2003 Bulldogs to taste success on the Thames River. Yale, with just one senior oarsman, still has 18 members of the squad who participated in one of last year’s regatta races, including the combination event the day before.

Snider, who coached both heavyweight and lightweights this year, also serves as director for Yale’s Community Rowing Program. The regatta, actually, is a home race for Snider who lives year round at The Ferry.

With few exceptions, the race has been staged there since 1878. Yale’s boathouse and living quarters are filled with pictures and memorabilia, including an oar from that first race. The inexperienced members of the Yale program should quickly become seasoned just by living within the educational confines of the Ferry. This year’s squad is ready to add its own story to this traditional event. Whether they are rowing two, three or four miles, everyone will soon be enveloped into the history of the Yale-Harvard regatta.