Ivy League Team To Compete In The Gallagher Great Race
US Ivy League university Harvard will take on the University of Waikato in rowing's Gallagher Great Race, to be held on the Waikato River on September 8th.There Strength will boosted by bringing their graduate crew from this year instead of under-graduate rowers bidding for next season's No 1 crew.
One of the organisers of the Gallaghers Great Race, former international sculler Rob Hamill, said he was still trying to establish if Harvard's legendary head coach Harry Parker would accompany the crew here.
This year's race will be held on Saturday, September 8, and Harvard are expected to arrive in New Zealand a couple of weeks earlier than that.
Harvard are the second American university crew to contest the annual university eights race on the river in Hamilton following the University of Washington (Seattle) visit here two years ago.
Waikato University has only once lost the 5km race, that being to Cambridge University in 2004 when the visitors came up with the superior tactics in terms of the lines they rowed on the river - an area that up until then had been the preserve of the home crew.
But Waikato returned to winning form against Washington the following year and got their revenge against Cambridge last year.
Hamill said an Ivy League rule that prevented their university teams making more than one overseas trip every four years meant Harvard had been unable to bring their potential 2008 lineup and thus opted for this year's crew that had already left university.
"This means they will be more of an international crew as I understand some have repatriated to their own countries after graduating and it also means they will probably be more competitive than they otherwise would," he said.
Harvard have an annual race against Yale, compete in an inter-collegiate competition, and also often travel to the Henley Regatta in England.