Yale-Harvard Regatta Turns 140

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June 7, 2005

NEW LONDON, Conn. - It is the oldest collegiate athletic competition. Football at Yale did not exist and there was no baseball diamond on campus. Sports Illustrated named this event the most venerable rivalry in college sports. There have been 139 meetings since 1852, which makes this year's event the 153rd anniversary. There are three rowing competitions, one of which is the longest race anywhere. It's the Yale-Harvard Regatta and the next one is Saturday, June 11.

The Crimson has swept the last four Regattas, but the Bulldogs believe they are gaining ground. They will look to show the result of a season of hard work on race day.

"Last year we closed the gap in the varsity, third varsity and freshman races," said head coach John Pescatore at the crews' annual media day held at the respective camps Tuesday. "This year, the two times we've faced Harvard our JV has been ahead of them both times. It demonstrates that we are making progress, and I'm pleased with that."

Captain John Hopkins, who will row in Friday's combination boat, is one of 13 seniors on the team. The Class of 2005 would like to leave the program with some momentum after its last competition.

"To go one-on-one changes the dynamics of the race," Hopkins said. "There's always a chance we can do well.

"The senior class has provided great leadership,"he added. "Hopefully, we've got the ball rolling in the right direction."

THE SCHEDULE
The freshman two-mile sprint is scheduled to begin at 10:15 a.m., followed by the three-mile second varsity race at 11. The featured four-mile varsity race should launch at noon. The combination race, also two miles, will be Friday at 11 a.m. All races are upstream and will finish at Bartlett's Cove. In the event of inclement weather, the races may be postponed until Sunday, June 12. In that case, the freshman race will begin at 8:45 a.m., followed by the JV race at 9:30 and the varsity race at 10:30.

BOAT AVAILABLE TO WORKING PRESS
If you are planning to cover the Regatta, please contact the Yale Sports Publicity Office at (203) 432-1455. There will be a media boat to follow all three races which will depart from Harvard's Red Top at 9:15 a.m. You must make advance reservations; seats are limited and will be given on a first-come, first-serve basis.

DIRECTIONS TO THE CAMPS
Take I-95 to Exit 86 and get on Route 12 North towards Gales Ferry. Stay on Route 12 for approximately 4.6 miles, and look for a white school building on the left. You will see a white street post sign for Hurlbutt Road. Take a left onto Hurlbutt Road. To get to Yale's camp, go straight over the bridge and to the street's end. To get to Harvard's camp, take a left at the stop sign and drive no more than a mile, you will see a big house set back in a large yard.

RACE HISTORY
The country's first intercollegiate sporting event occurred August 3, 1852, when the Yale and Harvard crews set out on a two-mile race on Lake Winnepesaukee in New Hampshire. The Crimson won that inaugural race and has since built an 86-53 varsity advantage in the Regatta series. The longest win streak by either school is Harvard's 18-year run from 1963 to 1980. The second longest was 11 years (Harvard 1985-96). Yale's longest streak is six, done twice around the turn of the century (1892-98, 1900-05) and from 1921-26. New London has hosted the Regatta on all but five occasions since 1878.

COMPARING VARSITIES
The Yale varsity is 5-4 and ranked 11th in the most recent national poll. The Bulldogs finished sixth in the petite final at last weekend's Intercollegiate Rowing Association Regatta and sixth at the grand final of Eastern Sprints. Harvard (6-0) claimed the EARC championship at Sprints, then won the national title at the IRA Regatta. Yale is led by third-year head coach John Pescatore (Penn '86), while Harvard has 43rd-year mentor Harry Parker (Penn '57).

LAST YEAR'S RACE
Harvard won the varsity, junior varsity and freshman races for the fourth straight year. The Crimson finished the four-mile varsity race with a time of 18:42.1 to Yale's 19:06.8. Harvard won the three-mile JV race with a time of 13:46.1 to 14:16.4, while also capturing the freshman race with a time of 8:46.1 on the two-mile course. The Bulldogs finished with a time of 8:50.0.

YALE HEAD COACH John Pescatore (Penn '86)
In his third campaign with the Eli heavyweights, head coach John Pescatore is a two-time United States Olympic rower, and has been an assistant coach at both Penn and Stanford. He won a bronze medal in the 1988 Seoul Olympic Games as the stroke for the U.S. heavyweight eight and was the stroke for the U.S. pair without coxswain that placed sixth in the 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games. In addition, he was the stroke for the heavyweight eight that captured a gold medal at the 1987 World Championships in Copenhagen. Pescatore also has international coaching experience. He served as the assistant coach for the 2000 United States Olympic Rowing Team (Dec. 1999-Oct. 2000) in Princeton, N.J., and coached the men's coxless pair to a silver medal in the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia. For his efforts, he was named the 2000 U.S. Rowing Coach of the Year. Most recently, he was an assistant coach at Penn in 2002 and the head coach of the Vesper Boat Club in Philadelphia, historically the most successful club program in the United States for placing athletes on national and Olympic rowing teams. Prior to that, Pescatore was the director of both girls and boys rowing at St. Ignatius College Preparatory School in San Francisco, where he coached both the varsity and junior varsity eights to medals in all seven of his years. In 1997, he guided his varsity eight to a national championship, which made St. Ignatius the most successful crew in California High School rowing history. Pescatore was an assistant coach at Stanford for three years where he recruited freshmen on and off campus. Pescatore is a 1986 graduate of Penn and was the captain of the heavyweight crew that won the Eastern Sprints title in his senior year. He earned his masters degree in teaching mathematics from the University of San Francisco in 1996. If you need to contact Pescatore about the Regatta, he can be reached in his office at (203) 432-1413 or at Gales Ferry (860-464-8259).

YALE FRESHMAN COACH Evans Liolin (Chicago '97)
In his second season as Yale freshman coach, Liolin brings international and collegiate coaching experience to New Haven. During a two-year stint as head coach of the U.S. Junior National Team, Liolin led his squad to a silver medal in the men's eight at the 2003 World Junior Championships and a bronze in 2002 at the same event. Prior to the national team, Liolin was the freshman coach at Northeastern from 1998-2001, where his second freshman placed second at the Eastern Sprints in 1999. Liolin, head women's coach at the Loyola Academy Rowing Association in Wilmette, Ill., from 1995-1997, founded the women's program and managed the operations with the Board of Directors. Liolin was men's head coach of the University of Chicago from 1992-1994 and coached crews to one gold, two silver and two bronze medals in regional competition. A 1997 graduate of Chicago, Liolin earned a degree in religion and the humanities and was captain of the crew team.

UPS AND DOWNS
This is the 58th upstream race on the Thames with Harvard holding a 35-22 advantage in that direction. The Cantabs have won 15 straight races starting by I-95 and heading north. The upstream record was set by Harvard in 1995 with an 18:41.9. Harvard holds a 34-26 advantage over Yale in downstream races though the Elis have won the last two (1996, 1999). The four-mile downstream record time of 18:22.4 was set by Harvard in 1980.

BULLDOGS AT 2005 SPRINTS
Yale's varsity boat matched its best finish since 1998, reaching the grand final at Eastern Sprints and finishing sixth in 5:46.149. The other Bulldog varsity boats also performed well, with the second varsity finishing third in 5:44.028 and the third varsity winning its grand final in 5:46.426. The Yale freshman boat placed fourth in the petite final in 5:52.465.

YALE AT 2005 IRA REGATTA
The Bulldog varsity placed sixth in the petite final of IRAs with a time of 5:50.79. Two Yale boats, the second varsity (5:52.58) and freshman four (6:52.69), qualified for their respective grand finals and both finished fifth. The freshman eight placed fifth in the petite final in 6:16.08.

REGATTA ON THE RADIO
All three races will be broadcast live on WNLC-98.7 FM, which has been covering the race since 1937. Coverage will begin at 10 a.m. with veteran Regatta commentator Charlie Hamlin and Yale lightweight crew coach Andy Card calling the action.

BULLDOG BITES
Yale has had 50 U.S. Olympic rowing selections since the 1924 Eli varsity brought home the gold in the Paris Games... The Bulldogs have a large class of 13 seniors who hail from eight different states and two foreign countries... Two Connecticut natives are slated to race for Yale on Saturday. They are senior Jeff Mascia (second varsity, Wallingford) and sophomore Patrick Purdy (second varsity, East Lyme). Sophomore Charlie Cole (varsity, New Canaan) is out with an injury... Junior Andre Thomas, a former Bulldog coxswain has left the team to serve with the Marine Corps in Iraq... Yale heavyweight crew has 22 boats, including 11 eight-man shells. All 11 of those boats have been dedicated and carry a name, a process which is handled by the naming committee... A 6 x 4-foot framed photo of Yale's 1956 Olympic Gold Medal boat crossing the finish line in Australia now hangs in the freshman living quarters at Gales Ferry... Yale is the oldest boat club in America...The Crimson has won eight straight JV races and leads that series, 67-35... Harvard leads the freshman series, which dates to 1893, 62-38-1 and has won four straight... Neighbors to the Yale Camp have been known to re-paint "the rock" in Yale colors after the race each year.

FERRY HAS SPLIT LOYALTIES
The Gales Ferry community has always been active in promoting the Regatta. Yale camp neighbors Margo Seawall and Rene Murkle paint "Good Luck Yale" in blue and white on the street every year. Residents have put up Yale oars and signs, and a power plant on the river hangs a large "Go Yale" banner. The town, which is impartial, has installed signs at both ends of Route 12. One reads, "Welcome to Gales Ferry, Home of the Yale-Harvard Regatta" in blue The other welcome sign reads, "Home of the Harvard-Yale Regatta," in red

YALE LIGHTWEIGHTS: NATIONAL CHAMPIONS
The Yale lightweight crew earned its third national title in six years by winning the grand final at the IRA Regatta in Camden, N.J., on Saturday. Yale captured its fifth national lightweight title by leading the entire 2,000 meters and finishing at 5:41.886. The Bulldogs led most of the grand final at Eastern Sprints, but were edged by Harvard for the EARC crown.

ELI WOMEN: EAWRC CHAMPIONS, IVY LEAGUE CHAMPIONS
The Yale women's crew had another tremendous season, winning the Eastern Sprints in 6:15.60, nearly three seconds ahead of second-place Princeton. The Bulldogs finished fifth in the varsity grand final at the NCAA Championships on Lake Natoma in Rancho Cordova, Calif., in a time of 6:25.89. In the team competition, Yale placed seventh. It was the fourth straight trip to NCAAs for the Yale women, who placed second in 2004.

VIEWING THE RACE
The river will be closed to traffic on race day from 10 a.m. until 1:30 p.m. or approximately 30 minutes after the finish of the varsity race. Spectator boats may anchor along, but clear of, the race course. Spectators on shore can watch the start of the race from Riverside Park, the middle portion on various beaches below the railroad tracks and the finish at the rock at Barlett's Cove.

BULLDOG CAPTAIN John Hopkins
John Hopkins has been a valuable member of the Yale heavyweight program for four years. He is currently in the No. 1 seat on the third varsity but has been in two other boats for the Regatta. The 6-foot-3, 190-pound Bulldog won a Sprints medal in 2002 at the bow of the freshman boat before competing against the Crimson. As a sophomore he was in the seven seat of the junior varsity and moved to the bow of the same boat last June. Hopkins, who plays the piano and drums, is a graduate of St. Joseph's Prep in Philadelphia. He rowed for its varsity eight that was a three-time SRA National Champion, a two-time Stotesbury Cup winner and a two-time Philadelphia champion. Hopkins, also a three-year letterman for the swimming team, was first-team All-Catholic in the pool. John Joseph Hopkins Jr, born July 1, 1983, is the son of John, a former Drexel rower, and Nancy Hopkins. His brother, Greg, is a freshman on the Yale lightweight squad. The economics major from Dresher, Pa., will start his job as an analyst for the Fixed Income Division of Goldman Sachs this summer.

GILDER BOAT HOUSE
Following the 1999 racing season, the Robert Cook Boathouse fell and construction commenced on the Gilder Boathouse. It is an expansive facility that stretches south to the finish line of Yale's 2,000-meter race course and incorporates design features specific to the needs of the program and the requirements of the site on the Housatonic River. Selected in a design competition in February 1998, the New Haven firm of Turner Brooks Architects has created a building that is unlike any other boathouse in the world. The main building entrance brings athletes, coaches and visitors through the heraldic sliding oar `door' (a clustered frieze of aluminum oars) onto a porch that opens up dramatically to a framed view of the river. Here a generously expanding stair spills down to connect with the docks and the water below. The staircase and deck function as a multipurpose space for team meetings and other group activities. The athletes proceed out along the porch overlooking the river to enter the locker rooms. The coaches have their own office and lobby area. A lounge is located south of the river for viewing the approach of racing boats. This space, anchored by a large fireplace, is also designed to house trophies and other memorabilia.