HLS crew team leads law schools at Head of the Charles Regatta

On Saturday, October 20, the Harvard Law School crew team rowed in the 43rd Head of the Charles Regatta, finishing with the best time of any law school boat competing in the race. The world’s largest two-day rowing event, the Regatta attracts more than 7,500 athletes from the around the world and draws up to 300,000 spectators throughout the course of the weekend.

“The Head of the Charles is one of the most fun, intense races in the world,” said team co-captain Andrew Klaber ’10. “It is a honor to compete on behalf of Harvard Law School and a pleasure to row with your HLS friends–individuals who you grow to respect as much on the water as you do in the classroom.”

The HLS team practiced three to four times a week before class, waking at 5:30 a.m. to begin practice sessions at 6:00 a.m. All of their hard work paid off, as the team finished the 3-mile course in a time of 17:31, the best time an HLS team has posted – by 20 seconds – in more than three years. 

There was a moment of drama during the race when the oarsmen nearly collided with another boat, but the team overcame that obstacle and held off a Yale alumni boat in the last 500 meters of the race.

All experienced rowers, with team members who were varsity rowers in college and even a member of the Danish national team, the HLS crew team was comprised of Klaber, Chris Cummings ’10, co-captain Kees Vandenberg ’09, Brian Gross ’08, and Ellen Weis ’08. Four students from other Harvard graduate schools rounded out the team: Joe Mihalic (HBS ’09), Patrick Hamm (FAS Ph.D. ’10), Benjamin Kramarz (HBS/KSG ’09), and Aron Chang (GSD ’09).