Harvard University has been making waves in three sports this fall—rowing, sailing, and field hockey. The Crimson showcased their rowing prowess during the Head of the Charles Regatta (HOCR) last weekend, with three different teams winning their event. Furthermore, Harvard Sailing has been charting a similar course, with numerous victories in recent races, including the Atlantic Coast Championship. Finally, Women’s Field Hockey has continued its dominance as it wrapped up an undefeated Ivy League season with two recent victories over the University of Pennsylvania and Cornell.
Harvard Rowing found success across the board at HOCR. The Men’s and Women’s Lightweight Teams both finished first in their respective divisions, and the Men’s Heavyweight Team finished second only to the US Heavyweight National Team—thus securing the win for the collegiate event, and solidifying Harvard’s position as a powerhouse in collegiate rowing. Moreover, a significant amount of each team were underclassmen, foreshadowing a bright future for the program.
Heavyweight rower Tyler Horler ’26 highlighted the importance of their big win.“We did very well considering we had a late-minute substitution when our sixth seat was suffering from a punctured lung two days before the race, so we had to put one of our second rowers in the lineup right before race day,” he said. “I think it was a very successful weekend. It was the first time that the heavyweight team had won the Charles in almost 10 years.”
Despite a rocky lead-up to the Head of the Charles Regatta and majority underclassmen boat, the heavyweight rowing team secured a big victory. Cameron Beyki ’26 spoke about how the team secured a much-needed victory against their arch-rivals, “It was good to beat Yale because we hadn’t beaten them in a long time,” he said. “This means a lot as Harvard vs. Yale is our biggest race of the year so we value this win over every other in the year—even our big IRAs, which are against every university in the country.” Beyki and Horler echo much of the heavyweight team in their optimism that this victory will foreshadow results for the rest of the year.
Harvard Sailing finished first of 18 teams at the Schell Trophy, the coed New England Championships, and fourth of 15 teams at the Victorian Urn Trophy the women’s New England Championships. Along with this past year’s victory at the Collegiate Team Race Nationals, Harvard Sailing has been on an outstanding run of form with promises of more success to come. The sailing team, like Heavyweight Rowing, credits much of their success to their underclassmen.
Captain Lachlain McGranahan ’24 discussed three members of the team who joined as first-years last season: twins Justin and Mitchell Callahan ’26 and Kennedy Leehealey ’26. “All three of these people were considered part of the top of the recruitment class, and they have pushed our team to a whole new level,” he said. “Of course, there’s a bit of a learning phase and then an adjustment phase moving from the high school level to the college level, but things were able to click at the end of the year.”
The promising rise of Harvard Sailing shows no signs of slowing down, as the outstanding performances from their underclassmen have laid the foundation for a bright future. The standout sophomore trio who made an immediate impact as first-years, coupled with the valuable contributions of returning team members and the collective growth of the squad, the future holds great promise for Intercollegiate Nationals which will be hosted at Harvard and MIT in late May 2024.
With the Crimson securing the home-court advantage for Intercollegiate Nationals, Harvard Sailing is expecting of themselves similar results to last year’s nationals. McGranahan ’24 stated, “The amazing thing this year is that the nationals are at Harvard … that means that we’ve gotten a lot of chances to have competitions and regattas at our home venue, which means we understand the conditions here. In sailing, the idea of home court advantage really exists as you have a better idea of what’s going to happen because you have more data points to go off of.” With their previous Nationals title and numerous recent victories, Harvard Sailing will begin their spring championship season prioritizing goals set on Nationals victory in May.
Finally, with a 2-0 victory over Penn and a 2-1 victory over Cornell, Women’s Field Hockey secured an undefeated Ivy record as well as the 2023 Ivy Title. Now ranked No. 9 in the country, Harvard will host the Ivy Field Hockey Tournament at Berylson Field this upcoming weekend.
Midfielder Avery Donahue ’24 sheds light on their unbridled success, “Last year, we didn’t have as good of a season as we’re having right now, and I think one thing that really motivated us was that we were not selected for the NCAA tournament last year. Not being selected motivated us to make sure that we put ourselves in a position where it was undeniable that we made the tournament. One of the ways we can make this tournament is by winning the Ivy’s, so we have spent this season treating the Ivy League games as super important so that we can put ourselves in a position to win the tournament.”
Alejandro Sanchez ’26 (alejandrosanchez@college.harvard.edu) writes Sports for the Independent.