Video Of The Week: Yale Bests Harvard in 150th Regatta



This past weekend marked the renewal of the oldest rivalry in U.S. intercollegiate athletics, the annual grudge match on the water between Harvard and Yale.

Yes, it was the 150th running of the regatta (or was it?), but there was perhaps still more interest added to the proceedings given that Yale had won their first Eastern Sprints title in some 33 years, only to be bounced from the IRA grand final by Harvard in a cracker of a semifinal in West Windsor roughly two weeks later. However, the Bulldogs did get their revenge on the Thames (pronounced the way it's spelled, not the way it is in England), and they did it with a flourish: not only did they walk away from the Crimson over the four-mile course, they also broke the upstream record set by Harvard by nearly seven seconds, posting a time of 18:35.0, and finishing roughly five lengths ahead of their rivals.

That's fast—so fast that even Yale men's head coach Steve Gladstone was surprised. And it also ended a streak of seven straight victories for the Crimson. (Skip to the 13-minute mark to see the beginning of the race.)



You can read a full write-up of the event via Hear The Boat Sing here, thanks to HTBS editor Göran Buckhorn. And read more via Yale Athletics here.

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-RR

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