All three of the day’s races were moved to the Cooper River due to concerns over the water levels on the Schuylkill River.

Racing against Ivy League rivals Penn and Columbia, the Bulldogs battled a stiff crosswind throughout the morning but were unable to hold off a fast-moving Penn squad, which took first place in all three Varsity Eight events.

The day opened with a scrappy contest between Yale’s third varsity eight and Penn’s third and fourth boats. The Quakers’ 3V jumped to a half-length lead within the first 20 strokes, taking advantage of early struggles by the Bulldogs as they adjusted to the wind. While Penn’s 4V faded quickly, the 3V extended their margin through the middle of the course.

In a fierce final sprint, the Elis surged back to overlap, but Penn’s early cushion proved decisive at the finish line as they crossed with a time of 6:29.10. Yale followed shortly after with a time of 6:32.82 and Penn’s 4V crew with a time of 6:57.57.

In the second varsity race, a bumpy start put the Y150 behind both Penn and Columbia. But the Bulldogs quickly regrouped, rowing through Columbia by the 750-meter mark and turning their attention to the leading Quakers. In the final 600 meters, Yale mounted a strong charge — but once again, Penn responded, holding off the Bulldogs by about a length and finishing with a time of 6:15.30. Yale followed at 6:19.85, and Columbia trailed at 6:24.29.

The marquee event, the varsity eight race, delivered the most dramatic duel of the day. Penn established an early lead, building nearly half a length on Yale by the midway point. But in the third 500, the Bulldogs launched a powerful move, narrowing the gap to a single seat and pulling ahead of Columbia.

With fans lining the riverbank, it looked as though the final sprint might deliver a photo finish. Instead, Penn unleashed a final burst of speed in the closing meters, crossing nearly a length ahead of Yale, with Columbia finishing by open water.

With their varsity eight victory, Penn retained the Marcellus Hartley Dodge Cup — an annual prize since 1955 — and secured the Colgan Cup for overall team points, a trophy first introduced in 2022.

The Bulldogs return to their home waters in Derby, Conn., on April 19 to host Dartmouth in their only home regatta of the season. The Durand Cup will be on the line.

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The last time the Elis faced the Big Green was in the Ivy opener of 2022, where Yale prevailed in all five races against Dartmouth, Cornell and Columbia. Edging out the runner-up by over five seconds in every race, the Bulldogs added both the Class of 1985 Cup and Connell Cup to the Gilder Boathouse trophy case. 

This was the team’s only home race of the season, and the Bulldogs were in high spirits as they geared up for the return of the Yale-Dartmouth matchup after three years. Before the races, the crew celebrated senior night, a tradition honoring the seniors and their contributions to the team. 

“Senior night was really nice because we got to honor each of the seniors, and we prepared posters before to honor each of their contributions to the team,” Ella Warden ’27, seat two of the third varsity quartet, told the News.

Additionally, the team also celebrated coach Will Porter’s 25th year with Yale. Porter was named head coach of the women’s crew team in 1999, and under his coaching and guidance, the team qualified for the NCAA 21 times, taking home 18 top-10 finishes and five NCAA titles.

“It has been an honor to coach at YWC, the athletes who row at Yale are exceptional on every level, athletically, academically, and as people,” Porter told the News.

The head coach also recognized the exceptional dedication and courage involved in simultaneously pursuing both sports and academics at the highest level.

In addition to winning a multitude of team titles, Porter has also coached seven Olympians, 10 senior team athletes and 29 U23 athletes.

“What the athletes do daily is amazing, and it is not for everyone. Very few people are brave enough to take on the ultimate challenge of rowing at the top level of our sport and not compromising their academics. I love it,” said Porter.

The races at the Housatonic River started bright and early at 8:30 am with the third varsity eight race, which set the momentum for the Bulldogs with a dominant finish of 6:33.30, edging out Dartmouth’s time of 6:45.47 by over 12 seconds. The Bulldogs started the race with a bang, and after an explosive start sequence, settled into a strong base rhythm through the middle 1000m, opening up clear water and never looking back.

Even with the oncoming of spring, the weather remained chilly at around 39 degrees Fahrenheit with a slight overcast and a drizzle throughout the morning. The suboptimal conditions, combined with a light chop on the water, made the crew exercise special caution throughout the races. However, the Bulldogs stayed resilient throughout the harsh weather conditions.

“Cold weather prevents you from really stretching out and relaxing, but we did well today,” Porter wrote to the News. “We train year-round in pretty much any conditions; today was no big deal.”

The first varsity eight team continued the winning streak for the Bulldogs, securing the Class of ’85 Cup and rowing away to victory with a time of 6:08.40, 14.05 seconds ahead of the Big Green’s 6:22.45.

The second varsity eight team closed the first half of the races on a high note, outpacing the competition with 6:19.20, over 12 seconds ahead of Dartmouth (6:31.79).

The varsity four team continued dominating the river during the second half of racing, with the first varsity quartet finishing on top with 6:55.60, a runaway win over Dartmouth (7:16.72).

The second varsity four (7:00.90) also stormed to victory, crossing the line comfortably ahead of the Big Green (7:24.80). The consistent and dominant performance of the crew team was thanks in no small part to their intensive practices both on and off season.

“The team culture is very good, and the vibes are very high. We’re pushing each other to the max,” said Warden.

Starting in the fall, the Bulldogs trained outdoors six days a week in the fall and spring and indoors during winter when the water froze over.

Even during days with no scheduled practice, captain Mia Levy ’25 often held captain practices to build the team’s stamina. Coach Porter expressed excitement about the team’s motivation.

“We practice at a high level, the energy and focus are intense, the squad is driven from within which allows me to coach technique rather than effort,” Porter said.

To close off the event, the third varsity four sealed the win with open water with a time of 7:23.50, 18.21 seconds ahead of Dartmouth (7:41.71).

This final victory meant that Yale not only retained the Class of 1985 Cup but also clinched a flawless 6-0 win, with a comfortable margin of over 10 seconds in each race.

“We had a really good middle part of the race where we were able to row away and continue pulling away instead of just sitting up,” recalled Warden.

With the Class of 1985 Cup successfully defended, the Bulldogs will now set their sights on the Eisenberg Cup, where they will travel to New Jersey to face Princeton on Saturday, April 19. Last year, the Tigers prevailed 4-1 after a close battle, with around 5 seconds or less difference in four of the five races. 

This year’s race will be held on Lake Carnegie, a reservoir straddling the border of the town of Princeton.

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At over six feet tall and a long-standing athletics enthusiast — having engaged in every “kiddie sports league” with their sister as they grew up — they were persuaded by their father to try out sports for which their height could prove an advantage.

“I tried basketball, but [realized] I had no hand-eye coordination,” Levy told the News. “[My dad then] encouraged me to try row camp, because he knew the sport, and it was one where my height would be helpful. It was the right sport for my body type at the time.”

Levy’s father was well-versed in the world of crew, having rowed for the men’s lightweight crew team at Yale from 1985 to 1989. His suggestion that his daughter try their hand at his former collegiate sport would spark a life-long passion for them — one that would eventually culminate in them being named the Yale Women’s Crew captain for the 2024-25 season.

Following their foray into the sport in middle school, Levy joined their hometown infantile rowing program in Des Moines, Iowa. As their interest in the sport burgeoned, so did their need to access greater resources. They applied to boarding schools on the East Coast where crew received significant attention, and were soon accepted to Phillips Academy in Andover, Mass. for high school.

“My freshmen year was a totally different experience. I had a larger team, with more people to push me and role models to look up to,” Levy said. “I had an amazing coach named Ellen Mizner. She coached for our high school on the side, and saw that I was passionate about [rowing] and invested time and energy in me. That was really transformative.”

Ellen Mizner was the Paralympic national team coach from 2013 to 2018, and was named USRowing’s Paralympic Coach of the Year in 2023.

By the end of their sophomore year of high school, Levy had been invited to the junior national team selection camp. Forty high school-aged rowers across the nation attend, with 20 selected to race at the U19 World Rowing Junior Championships. Levy soon joined the USA team, finishing fourth in the women’s eight race. 

Through the summer and their junior year, they continued to accrue several achievements, winning the junior category at the 2019 CRASH-B and 2020 USRowing Indoor National Championships, and intermediate eight and elite at the 2019 USRowing Summer National Championships. 

Levy intended to return to the national junior selection camp the summer after their junior year, but the pandemic stalled those plans.

“It was really difficult,” Levy explained. “When COVID hit, everyone went home [from boarding school]. I wasn’t in the same city as any of my friends. The U19 Championships [and] my high school season got cancelled. It was hard to motivate [myself].”

Despite the pause in their trajectory through the sport, Levy was able to continue rowing back home, following the remote training plan designed by Mizner and the Phillips Academy coaching staff. 

The gradual resumption of in-person schooling in their senior year brought Levy back to the water with their team. Quickly elected their captain, they became responsible for leading a new group of fellow oarswomen, as several seniors departed during the pandemic period. 

“I had to build the team from the ground up. But I loved it and I felt strongly about the power of a team sport. COVID was challenging, with having to pause and basically self-motivate, but I came out the other side,” Levy said.

Encouraged by their coach, Levy began to look to the collegiate level for the next phase of their rowing career. Yale’s positive women’s crew team culture — and English program — proved especially enticing, leading Levy to commit. After a summer rowing for the junior national team, they stepped onto Yale’s campus in the fall of 2021.

Despite the learning curve of adjusting to an increasingly strenuous training schedule amid the universal “monster” of the freshmen fall transition to college, Levy made the second varsity boat for the team. Their freshman year was thereon riddled with accolades: Levy brought home gold in the second varsity eight at the 2022 Ivy League Championship, NCAA Championship and women’s 8+ for the USA team at the 2021 World Rowing Junior Championships.

“The upperclassman leadership my freshmen year was particularly significant,” Levy shared, reflecting on their success at Yale. “There were a lot of amazing mentors in that boat, juniors and seniors who saw that I was still figuring stuff out, struggling a little bit to get my feet under me, and they really just led by example and made sure I felt part of the team. They helped me find my place at Yale and on the team, and figure out how I wanted to be as a person, a friend and a teammate.”

Their excellence continued. Levy was named the USRowing Under-23 Female Athlete of the Year and won a gold medal for the USA at the women’s eight World Rowing Under 23 Championships in Bulgaria during their sophomore year. As a junior, they were named a CRCA Scholar Athlete and were a finalist for the CRCA athlete of the year. 

“From an athletic perspective, Mia is a generational talent,” Women’s Crew Head Coach Will Porter wrote to the News. “[They] hold all [of] our all-time team records on the rowing machine (beating several Olympians). [They are] a U23 World Champion for the USA, an NCAA Champion for Yale in the 2V, an All-Ivy League athlete, and of course our captain.”

Levy was elected captain by their peers before their senior year. Describing their captaincy, Porter pointed to Levy’s communication skills as a reason for their success, naming them the “best female athlete at Yale.” 

Levy’s teammates echoed Porter’s praise.

“Mia is one of the most accomplished athletes in YWC history, but [they] probably wouldn’t tell you that [themselves],” Claire Cummings ’26 wrote to the News. “Mia notices things acutely — the teammate whose head is hanging, the trash that needs picking up, or the lapse in team communication that could be improved — and addresses these things with patience and kindness. Simply put, Mia leads with intentionality and awareness.”

As captain, Levy organizes optional training sessions to supplement the hours the NCAA prescribes for the team. They aim to cultivate a healthy team culture, spending time and goal-setting with their fellow oarswomen to produce a collaborative, uplifting, and winner’s environment. 

As Levy approaches the end of their Yale undergraduate experience, they look forward to attending the national senior team selection camp — similar to the national junior team camp they once frequently attended — this summer. They hope to row for the USA national team after college.

“I’m really excited [for the future], but for right now, I’m really excited about YWC, and the goals we have for this season,” Levy shared.

Beyond the boat, Levy is an English major and sits on the Leadership Board of Yale Athlete Ally, an LGBTQ affinity group for Yale student athletes that promotes visibility, inclusion and community in sport. They tutor at the Poorvu Center and have worked with the Yale Prison Education Initiative and New Haven Public Schools.

“Mia has led with compassion, ambition, and a belief in the team that we are so lucky to have. I can’t wait to see all [they do] as a U.S. senior team rower, as a teacher one day, and I know YWC is better because of [them]!” fellow oarswoman Olivia Schnur ’25 wrote to the News.

The women’s crew season will culminate in the Ivy League and NCAA Championships in May and June. 

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A two-day endeavour, Friday heralded a slew of victories for the oarsmen. The second varsity squad cut ahead of Brown and Northeastern to secure first-place with a 5:50.65 timing, a trend that was quickly followed by the team’s third and fourth varsity boats, which clocked winning finishing times of 5:57.29 and 5:59.24 respectively. 

The first varsity boat made a strong showing for the coveted Albert Cup, but fell just short of Brown by 00:02.24, resulting in a second-place finish.

On Saturday, the rowers appeared in a second effort at the invitational. The varsity eight ended in fourth place ahead of Northeastern, behind Washington, Brown and Harvard. The second varsity squad similarly landed in third behind Washington and Harvard, while the third and fourth varsity boats placed last in their respective races. 

“Any time we line up to race, the objective is to win,” wrote Head Coach Mike Gennaro to the News. “But throughout these regular season races, there are plenty of opportunities for growth. As we work [through the] first few, we will be evaluating, adjusting and striving to improve as we near the three championship races at the end of the season.” 

According to Gennaro, the team has been especially gearing up for the Eastern Sprints Championships, the I.R.A. National Championships, and the 158th Yale v. Harvard Regatta, all of which take place in May and June. 

Pointing to the team’s commitment to the indoor winter training period and over spring break — during which the oarsmen remained on campus to train twice a day on a near-daily basis — Gennaro highlighted the team’s evident commitment to approaching these upcoming contest, a sentiment echoed by Captain Harry Geffen ’25. 

To Geffen, the out-of-season training period will only continue to come to fruition in the races ahead. 

“The period between November and January is particularly challenging,” said Geffen in an interview with the News. “[You’re] training over the holidays. When you return to campus, you can’t go out on the water. But I think this period has been the best I’ve ever seen. [The guys] have been logging more miles than I’ve seen [before], and really stepping up to push each other.”

The Bulldogs will race against Dartmouth this Saturday for the Olympic Axe at their very own Gilder Boathouse in Derby, Connecticut. 

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“It was a really formative experience. [It] demonstrated to me the kind of ways in which sports, but particularly rowing, could better [your] mental and physical health and provide a great community [for you]. Watching his races at [that] age was very inspiring,” Geffen told the News.

Geffen threw himself into the sport during his first year of high school. He attended Eton College, the inaugural home of amateur rowing and the home of “the largest boat club in the world,” according to the club’s website. The club further boasts a slew of accolades to its name, including 15 wins of the prestigious Princess Elizabeth Challenge Cup at the annual Henley Royal Regatta.

“There was just a really good atmosphere [at Eton],” said Geffen. “Coaches really understood the rowers, and [there were] lots of great opportunities, [both] on and off the water.”

This year, Geffen is joined by three fellow Etononians on the Yale heavyweight crew team: Luca Liautaud ’25, William Burges-Watson ’25 and Jamie Ginsberg ’28.

Pointing to a particularly impactful speech delivered by a New Zealand Olympic Gold winner at the school when he was 16 years old, Geffen noted how the pursuit of excellence was entrenched within Eton’s rowing culture.

“It was on the forefront of everyone’s mind. [We could see] a pathway to success at the highest level,” shared Geffen.

At Eton, Geffen was a member of the 2021 8+ team that concurrently won the Princess Elizabeth Challenge Cup at Henley and the British National Schools’ Championship. In 2019, he was a winner in the Junior-16 8+ event at the Schools’ Head of the River Race — the United Kingdom’s largest school-age head rowing race — and qualified for the Temple Challenge Cup at Henley in the same year.

As he moved on from his junior rowing career during the pandemic, Geffen weighed staying local and continuing his collegiate career at Oxford, which both his father and brother attended, or crossing the Atlantic to enter the illustrious Ivy League rowing scene. An exploratory liberal arts system, the promise of a recruited class team with strong community ties and the opportunity to engage with people from various backgrounds promised a particularly enticing undergraduate experience at Yale. 

The several recommendations from fellow oarsmen who had attended Yale and attributed its rowing programme to their ascent to the Olympic level only strengthened his decision: Yale was his dream, and he would go abroad.

The recruitment process was fruitful, and Geffen arrived at Yale in 2022. He sat on the second varsity boat, which went undefeated through his first season. He then moved to the first varsity boat, where he has remained since. During the summer before his senior year, he was appointed captain by his teammates for the 2024-25 season.

While rowing at Yale, Geffen also proved himself on the international level. He is a two-time Under-23 World Champion for Great Britain, and in 2022, he sat in the stroke seat of Great Britain’s 8+ team that won gold at the Under-23 World Championships in Varese, Italy.

In 2023, Geffen also sat in the stroke seat for Great Britain’s two-pair rowing event alongside his former Yale teammate, Miles Beeson ’23. Geffen and Beeson won gold in the event at the 2023 Under-23 World Championships in Plovdiv, Bulgaria.

“It was exciting,” said Geffen. “You know, you want to be the guy that people want to be in the boat with. [But] everyone’s a cog in the wheel, and I really push [that] everyone needs to be a captain. [All of us] having high standards and that ferocious, gritty and ‘cannot lose’ mindset is [important]. I think the entire team has really stepped up to that.”

Heavyweight Crew head coach Mike Gennaro echoed Geffen’s sentiments.

“I think the standards to which Harry holds himself to and his selfless temperament are what led his teammates to elect him captain,” Gennaro wrote to the News. “[He] has been an outstanding leader this season. That being said, Harry is not leading this team alone. The entire senior class has done a terrific job on setting the tone within our program, guiding the underclassmen and contributing to our team culture.”

Harry Keenan ’24, who led Yale’s heavyweight team from 2023 to 2024, told Yale Athletics that “it’s a privilege to be elected captain” and that “to be chosen is truly an honor.” Keenan also noted that while the honorific title of  “captain” does not exactly define how a chosen individual leads, a captain must show that “effective leadership can only come from effective action.”

Gennarro also underscored a captain’s crucial role in providing insight into the lives of the oarsmen. Coaches, who construct the day-to-day training protocol for the oarsmen, hardly grapple with the “student” aspect of their rowers’ lives. To understand their commitments and responsibilities, they rely on captains to create an environment defined by mutual trust, honesty and communication — a duty Geffen performs effectively.

For Geffen, this sense of commitment and responsibility extends beyond the tips of his oars. 

While balancing crew with his coursework as an ethics, politics and economics major poses a challenge at times, Geffen seeks to further his studies in global development. After graduation, Geffen plans to return home to the United Kingdom and complete his graduate studies at Oxford, where he hopes to compete in the annual Oxford Boat Race — the same race that his brother, William, won in 2015.

Geffen also hinted at potentially competing in the 2028 summer Olympics in Los Angeles, calling it “a dream.” He acknowledged that while “there’s a long way to go between now and then,” competing at such an elite level is within his “immediate focus.”

Pivoting to the present, Geffen told the News that his “real ambition” this season is to beat Harvard at this year’s 158th edition of the Harvard-Yale Regatta, which is set to take place on Saturday, June 7, in New London, Conn.

Last year, Geffen helped the Bulldogs defeat the Crimson in the 157th Yale-Harvard Regatta, where Yale won three of the four races.

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The Bulldogs’ dominance began with the third varsity four’s race against Gordon, MIT and Mercyhurst. Yale surged ahead within the first 250 meters, widening its lead throughout the race to win convincingly by open water with a time of 6:52.50. Mercyhurst followed almost half a minute after with a time of 07:19.4, MIT with a time of 7:32.0 and Gordon with a time of 7:51.40.

In the second varsity eight face-off against Navy, both crews launched aggressively off the start, but the Bulldogs established a half-length lead within the first 500 meters. That margin steadily expanded, and by the third 500, Yale had secured open water, maintaining the gap to clinch the victory with a time of 5:52.20. Navy followed after with a time of 5:58.50.

The much-anticipated first varsity eight race, which determined the winner of the Johnson Cup, saw a thrilling battle between Yale and Navy. 

In last year’s matchup against the Naval Academy, the 1V race was tightly contested, with Navy edging out Yale by a narrow margin and securing the Johnson Cup with a time of 6:10.87 against Yale’s 6:13.14. However, the 2V and 3V boats secured first-place finishes, earning the Bulldogs the Van Amringe Cup for the highest overall team finish.

This year, in the first varsity eight race, the two crews remained neck-and-neck through the first 500 meters before Navy gained a slight edge. The Midshipmen led by three seats at the halfway mark, but Yale responded with a powerful third 500 meters, inching ahead of their rivals. The final stretch saw both teams exchanging blows stroke for stroke, with the Bulldogs ultimately edging out Navy by about a seat ahead at the finish line with a time of 5:34.30 — just 0.2 seconds before Navy.

With their varsity eight triumph, Yale secured the Johnson Cup, named after Eads Johnson Jr. ’34, a former Yale lightweight captain and U.S. Naval Reserves commander. The Bulldogs’ overall points victory earned them the Van Amringe Cup, honoring Jon Van Amringe ’70, a Yale lightweight rower who served in the U.S. Navy before coaching the Navy lightweights.

“Today’s racing was a solid start to the season, and we can’t wait to build on it,” said Jackie Weyerhaeuser ’25, who coxed the second varsity boat, to Yale Athletics.

The Bulldogs will be returning to New Jersey again to finish out the regular season on Saturday, April 26, for a matchup against Princeton and Harvard.

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Olympic gold medalist and Yale Crew alum Dan Williamson ’23 is returning to New Haven as the newest member of the team’s coaching staff. 

“More important than the results of the squad is the experience that the oarsmen and coxswains have during their time here because that stays with you much longer than the four years in which you row for this team,” Williamson wrote to the News. “I have never come across a team culture that is quite like Yale’s and hope to continue to facilitate an environment in which the athletes can thrive in all facets of their lives.”

Williamson, who rowed with the upperclassmen of the current team, had a monumental career at Yale and in higher categories. The native of Auckland, New Zealand, was the first ever oarsman to sit in the stroke seat of the winning Varsity 8 boat as a first year. He was also a member of the winning 2019 and 2022 IRA National Championship crews. 

During his time as the first-year stroke seat, the team had an undefeated season, winning not only the 2019 IRA National Championships but also the four-mile race versus Harvard, the Eastern Sprints and Ivy League Championship. They also won all regular-season cup races.

“I loved my time at Yale and being a part of the crew team here was the most important phase of my athletic career – without learning from my teammates and coaches at Yale I wouldn’t have had a successful Olympic career – so in that sense it is special to be back,” Williamson wrote.  

In 2022, Williamson sat in the stroke of the Bulldog’s first varsity boat and led the team to a silver medal finish at the IRA National Championships. In the same year, they once again went undefeated in regular season cup races and won the four-mile race against Harvard while setting a course record.

“Having Dan on the coaching staff is definitely going to boost morale and give a different perspective to the athletes,” Drew Cavanaugh ’26 wrote to the News. “It is not very often someone with the pedigree Dan has come into the coaching world so having his knowledge and experience on our side is going to be extremely helpful.”

During his final year as a Bulldog, Williamson was a part of the crew that helped Yale clinch their seventh consecutive Eastern Sprints title and Ivy League Championship. To cement a colossal collegiate career, Williamson was honored with the William Neely Mallory Award, one of Yale Athletics’ most prestigious accolades. This award is given to the male senior who, “on the field of play and in life at Yale, best represents the greatest ideals of Yale tradition and American sportsmanship.”

“It’s fantastic, really. He’s obviously an incredible oarsman himself and having been in a boat with him my sophomore year, I was confident that he would be a very talented coach as well,” Coxswain Thomas Allen ’25 wrote to the News. “So far that’s been true. I think it has been a pretty seamless transition from peer to coach given the amount of respect he garnered while he was still here.” 

Williamson found great success outside of collegiate athletics, as well. 

He competed in both the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games and the recent 2024 Paris Games for New Zealand. At the games in Tokyo, Williamson won a gold medal in the men’s eight and was the youngest member of that crew. He was also the only oarsman in all categories to win an Olympic gold medal while still participating in competition at the NCAA/USA university level. This was New Zealand’s first gold medal in the event for almost 50 years.

In addition to his Olympic and collegiate success, Williamson is a four-time New Zealand National Champion. He earned a silver medal at the 2017 World Rowing Championships, two silver medals at the 2021 New Zealand National Championship and a bronze medal at the 2018 World Rowing Under-23 Championships.

“Of course success on the water is going to be a huge part of what motivates us as a team; everyone on this team wants to get every boat back on the dias at Eastern Sprints and our National Championship Regatta, and keep our bow ahead of Harvard’s every chance we get,” Williamson told the News. “We are already on that path – coaches Genarro and LaLiberte have a clear direction of where this team is going and how we are going to get there and I cannot wait to support them in that endeavor.” 

He joins the team as the Bulldogs host their first home race of the season, the Head of the Housatonic this past weekend. The team will travel to Boston, Mass., for the Head of the Charles next weekend. 

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The athletes represent ten nations — Australia, Canada, Denmark, Great Britain, Greece, Ireland, Nigeria, New Zealand, Switzerland and the United States — and four different sports — rowing, sailing, soccer and Paralympic swimming.

Each competed as a varsity athlete during their time at Yale.

“I’m really excited to wear the United States flag on my cap in my races in Paris,” Ali Truwit ’23 said. “Not only is it a huge honor, but to me, it is a thank you to all the everyday heroes who saved my life and are continuing to help me rebuild it: my coach, my doctors, prosthetist, nurses, physical therapists, family, friends.” 

Truwit was a four-year letter winner for the Yale women’s swimming and diving team. Following her graduation from Yale last spring, she survived a shark attack in Turks and Caicos where she tragically lost her foot and part of her leg. 

Determined to not lose her love for swimming, she started training for the Paralympics and qualified for the Games a little over a year after her accident and amputation surgery in June. 

Michelle Alozie ’19 is also heading to Paris, representing Nigeria on their Women’s Soccer team. 

While at Yale, Alozie was an Ivy League Co-Offensive Player of the Year and was unanimously voted to the first team All-Ivy. She says her time wearing Yale Blue uniquely equipped her to represent Nigeria in the Games. 

“At Yale, I learned to put blinders on to stay focused on what I want to achieve,” she told the News. “The same goes for the preparation for the Games. Many external factors can deter me from performing fully on the goal that Team Nigeria has here. So, putting on the blinders with my head down and focused is how I have been preparing.” 

Truwit’s time competing as a Bulldog also motivated her to train for the Paralympics. She recalled the team’s “positive energy” and “bold hopes” when vying for first in the 2019 All Ivy Championships. 

“Yale Swim and Dive has been in the trenches with me since day one… It’s my teammates who saved me, it’s my teammates who joined me in public without a foot for the first time, it’s my teammates who flew from Canada and Tennessee to practice with me,” she said. “I returned home a few weeks ago from Trials, and it was my teammates lined up with posters and balloons to congratulate me.”

Ten of Truwit’s Yale teammates are flying to Paris to cheer her on in the pool. 

“How incredible is that!” she exclaimed. 

The bulk of Yale’s athletes, 16 out of 20 of the Olympian Bulldogs, will be competing at Paris’ Vaires-Sur-Marine Nautical Stadium on their country’s respective rowing teams.

Andrin Gulich ’22 will be rowing for Switzerland in the Coxless Pairs competition where just two rowers sit in a boat with one oar each. 

Gulich and his teammate Roman Roeoesli are the reigning World Champions in the event after winning in Serbia last year.

Gulich competed in Tokyo, although in a different event: the Men’s Four. This time around, he’s most looking forward to the spectators since none were allowed due to pandemic social distancing restrictions in the last games. 

At all of his regattas, including the Olympics, he enjoys seeing fellow Bulldogs in other boats. 

“I feel a tremendous amount of support from the Yale community,” he told the News. “When we go to regattas, the world rowing events, they always feel a bit like a Yale reunion… just seeing friends in other boats, and even competitors’ boats, I mean, that’s kind of a support system, and it feels nice.” 

In this year’s games, Gulich will face off against three other Yalies in the Men’s Coxless Pair competition: Dan Williamson ’23 representing New Zealand, Ollie Wynne-Griffith ’17 representing Great Britain and Simon Keenan ’15 representing Australia. Williamson won an Olympic gold medal as part of the New Zealand Men’s Eight at the Tokyo 2020 Games. Wynne-Griffith’s boat won Bronze in the same event. 

Yale boasts over 200 Olympic athletes in its history and over 100 medals. 

“I am so proud of our current and former student-athletes participating in the Paris Olympics,” Yale Athletics Director Victoria Chun wrote to the News. “I can’t imagine a better experience than competing at the highest level of sport and studying at the highest level of academics. You can have it all.”

The first Yalies will compete on Saturday, July 27. All of the Olympics can be watched on NBC and Peacock.

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In a fierce early morning tailwind, the first four Bulldog boats came out on top of extremely competitive races: the largest margin at the finish was three seconds. The fifth varsity, however, fell to the Big Green by more than fifteen seconds. Last year, every Yale boat except the second varsity beat Dartmouth.

Head coach Mike Gennaro said that the team’s goal was to “expand through executing what we trained to do all week at practice,” characteristically highlighting the heavyweight’s emphasis on long-term development.

The third varsity race proved to be the most dramatic of the weekend. Yale and Dartmouth had close contact throughout the course and around the turn until, with just 100 meters to go, a Dartmouth rower’s oar caught under the water.

This mistake, which is called “catching a crab,” can create so much traction that it brings the boat to a stop. On Saturday, the Big Green’s accident slowed their boat just enough to allow Yale’s third boat to slip ahead and clinch the finish — the crew equivalent of a nerve-wracking buzzer-beater.

Despite this stroke of luck, and Yale’s dominant position in the majority of the day’s races, captain Harry Keenan ’24 said “Dartmouth are always a very gritty opposition and we never take anything for granted.”

Though clearly opposed to complacency, the team’s captain has plenty to be proud of. On Saturday, Keenan coxed the Yale varsity to a 2.6-second win over Dartmouth, securing the Olympic Axe. This triumph adds another year to the Axe’s tenure in Gilder Boathouse, which began in the trophy’s 2004 inception.

There’s still much to prove in the rest of the season – the team will take on Columbia University and the University of Pennsylvania in New Jersey on Saturday, April 20th. If victorious, the Bulldogs will take home the Blackwell Cup, which has been awarded to the winner of the three teams’ varsity race since 1927. With 48 first-place finishes, including last year, the Elis have claimed the trophy more than either other squad.

Harry Geffen ’25 said that last weekend’s triumph against Dartmouth was a “good step in the right direction,” with only the Blackwell Cup against Columbia and Penn and the Carnegie Cup against Cornell and Princeton remaining before the end of the dual season.

The Bulldog varsity was ranked No. 5 in the most recent IRCA/IRA Men’s Heavyweight Varsity 8 poll.

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“Competing against five top programs in the country on a world-class racecourse was an ideal way to kick off the spring season,” said head coach Mike Gennaro. “It was a great experience for our oarsmen.”

Though these results are not consistent with the heavyweights’ customary across-the-board sweep, performance improvements between Friday heats and Saturday finals indicate that the Bulldogs were still shaking off the rust from a long winter. Though the second, third and fourth varsities lost to Brown in a headwind on Friday, Saturday’s tailwind carried the fourth varsity ahead of Brown’s boat and lessened the margins in the second and third varsity races.

In the weekend’s greatest triumph, the Bulldogs walked away with the Albert Cup trophy against Brown, which has been firmly housed in Gilder Boathouse since its inception in 2014.

“Winning cups and races [is] always a challenge, so that was a great start to the weekend,” said captain Harry Keenan ’24. “Brown are always strong, and they tested us all the way down the course.”

The Eli oarsmen will take this weekend off of racing before facing Dartmouth on the Housatonic on April 13 for their first and only home race of the season.

The winner will take home the Olympic Axe, which has also resided in Gilder Boathouse since its creation in 2004.

Harry Geffen ’25, who rowed in seven seat in Yale’s varsity last weekend, said that the team’s experience in Sarasota “helped us identify positives to take away and areas that we can work on moving forwards.”

Last year, Yale’s heavyweight crew team won four of five races in their dual against Dartmouth.

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