As most students pack up for summer break, many Harvard athletes remain on campus, training for the final stretch of their season. The Radcliffe Lightweights, Harvard’s women’s lightweight rowing team, are preparing for the Intercollegiate Rowing Association National Championship Regatta on May 31 to June 1 at Mercer Lake in West Windsor, NJ.
Rowing is a sport few fully understand. While many notice the boats cutting across the water and some are familiar with the different events, few realize the discipline it takes to sustain twice-daily practices nearly all year long—particularly for lightweight athletes. When most Cambridge residents think about the rowing season, they think of the famous Head of the Charles Regatta, which draws Harvard students, local fans, and viewers across the world in October.. The Crimson crew teams do not stop training after the fall, however, as the team’s competitive season extends through the end of May.
Because of the weight cap, lightweight rowing allows people with a naturally smaller frame to compete in rowing at the collegiate level. “As a female lightweight rower, we weigh in prior to racing at under 130 lbs and race 2,000 meters during our spring season,” shared Britt Wotovich ’28. Female athletes must safely meet their weight requirement while maintaining peak physical condition, in order to display speed, synchronization, and efficiency on the water.
The Radcliffe Lightweights compete in a range of boat categories. “We race three main boat categories: a coxed eight, coxed four, and the double scull,” Wotovich explained. “Coxed” means that the boat has a coxswain in the stern—the person who steers and coordinates the rowers throughout the race. If you’ve ever gone for an early morning walk or run along the Charles, you might’ve heard a coxswain yelling out commands to their boat. Eight and four refers to the number of rowers in the boat and each rower has one oar. A double skull has two rowers and no coxswain in the boat, with each one having two oars.
The team trains five to six days a week, often twice a day, balancing on-the-water practices, strength training, and endurance work—all while managing the academic demands of Harvard. Maintaining this balance is no small feat, but the Radcliffe Lights were able to maintain an impressive fall GPA of 3.73.
Harvard’s women’s crew teams are one of the only varsity programs that still officially compete only under the name “Radcliffe.” As the oldest women’s rowing program in the Ivy League, the name was retained to honor the determination, success, and legacy of the original Radcliffe College crews. Although lightweight rowing falls outside NCAA governance due to its weight-class requirements, the team proudly competes under the Radcliffe name, alongside the openweight rowing team, which does compete under the NCAA.
At the 50th annual Eastern Sprints, the team brought home two silver medals and a bronze: second place in the varsity eight and four A, third in the four B, and sixth in the double. These were strong finishes for the team as their final regatta before the national championship.
The time between Eastern Sprints in early May and their upcoming regatta has been a valuable training block for the team. “Being one of the last teams on campus has been an opportunity to bond with fellow spring athletes and focus on athletics without academic pressures,” Wotovich shared.
The Radcliffe Lightweights are navigating a period of transition under their new head coach, Stacey Apfelbaum. While adapting to new leadership presents its challenges, the team has handled this change by leaning on one another and drawing strength from their captains to ensure a smooth adjustment.
“The most rewarding part of being on RVL is 100% my teammates. My teammates are so inspiring, and I have made such incredible friendships with this sport,” commented Wotovich.
That sense of connection fuels the team both on and off the water. Balancing the demands of Harvard academics with the intensity of training for a national competition is no easy task, but last spring, the Radcliffe lights proved it could be done with a third-place finish at the IRA National Championships Regatta. Now, with IRA Nationals just a week away and the stress of finals over, the Radcliffe lights are once again in a strong position to compete at the highest level of collegiate lightweight rowing.
Olivia Lunseth ’28 (olivialunseth@college.harvard.edu) writes Sports for the Independent.