Women's 8 are World Champions!
Women take Wharton Sprints by storm, and beat off tough competition from MIT up in Boston at HBS's event. In strong winds and with oars designed more for Shrek than a normal-size oarsperson they manage to pull through at the end after leading the race at the start. The men entered the novice/mixed event and were beaten by a few lengths by a mixed Harvard Law crew. Teams represented: MIT, Cornell, Harvard Law, HBS, Yale.

In Philadelphia, the women take the competition down. With high waves at the beginning of the course, the dedication of the women shows through as they easily beat the competition. The men did the same, beating off five other boats in the novice event by a steady start and rowing through the faster-off-the-start Wharton A crew. This year the men's crew had only two experienced oarsmen: injuries and competing commitments kept it a more novice boat. A development boat for the next year which dissappointed Darden who were still looking for the experienced boat of the previous year to exact revenge upon! In a mixed event at the end of the day, the scratch crew was beaten by a more experienced scratch crew from the Penn medical school. Teams represented: Cornell, Wharton, Darden, Yale, Penn Medical.

Men's 8 are World Champions!
The SOM Crew team had another great season in 2002 - 2003. In Boston at the World Graduate School Rowing Championships on May 3rd, the experienced Men's 8 placed first and kept their undeafeted season intact. The crew defeated Harvard Business School, Harvard Law School, MIT Sloan, and Cornell Business School, rowing 3:41.0 in a 1200m race on Boston's Charles River. The other SOM boats also continued to progress as new rowers gained race experience. SOM Mens "B" boat, comprised of 7 first year rowers earned 1st Place in the Mixed Division while the SOM Womens boat took 2nd Place in the Open Division. After winning its first heat the men came from behind to defeat a strong Cornell team in the second heat. Veteran experience in the boat led to a highly successful and undefeated season.

The SOM Men's 8 defeated Darden and MIT Sloan at Wharton's B-School sprints on April 12th. SOM also entered a "B" boat that finished 3rd place in this race. The Women's 8 finished in a respectable 3rd place against stacked boats from Darden, MIT, and Wharton. The Women's 4 continued to gain experience in their race. The Men's Novice 8 placed 2nd and the Men's Novice 4 ended up losing an oar during the race! Lastly, the experienced Men's 4 race split the Men's 8 into two boats: The SOM Men's 4 A took 1st place, but only because SOM Men's 4 B took the worst boat so they could win!

Record Season!
The SOM Crew team had a great season in 2001 - 2002. In Boston at the World Graduate School Rowing Championships on April 27th, the experienced Women's 8 and the novice Men's 8 placed first, while the experienced Men's 8 lost by only 4 seats to a stacked Wharton crew.

At the B-School Sprints on April 21st the experienced Women's 8 pulled off an upset over Wharton. The experienced Men's 8 had a strong third place finish behind the Wharton and Penn Med School crews. The novice Men's 8 lost their rudder 200m into the race. After a restart, they lost by only 4 seats to the Wharton crew.

World Champions!
For the first time ever, a Yale SOM Crew brought the World Graduate School Rowing Chmapionship back to New Haven, Connecticut. The men's experienced boat raced against HBS and MIT. Despite being down early in the race, Yale SOM rowed through Harvard to win by a length.

The experienced women extracted revenge against Harvard Law for their defeat in the finals last season, beating Harvard Law by open water in the preliminary heat. The experienced women and the novice men finished second overall in their races.

Swept the Schuylkill!
SOM Crew swept all three races at the B-School Sprints on April 7 with victories in the experienced men, experienced women and mixed boat races. The Women's experienced boat pulled ahead early in the race and never looked back. The Men's experienced boat battled Wharton the entire river with neither crew ever leading by more than four seats. In the last 300 meters, Yale pulled ahead to win by two seats.The mixed boat was also successful, pulling out to a large early lead and winning by open water.

Victory, sweet victory!
The SOM Crew Women cleaned up in Philadelphia on April 15 with victories in both the novice and experienced races. The Women's A boat pulled ahead 200 meters into the race, winning by several boat lengths. The Women's B boat battled the length of the course, edging ahead in the final 300 meters for a half boat length victory.

SOM Crew also fielded a novice and experienced Men's boat, and a mixed boat, finishing second, third and second, respectively. Nothing feels as good as revenge: After a mighty thumping in Philadelphia at the hands of Wharton, the SOM Crew Men's A boat pulled off a four-seat victory over the same Wharton crew in the Graduate School Rowing Championships on May 6. For the first time in the 16 year history of the regatta, neither Wharton nor HBS were in the finals...ah, too bad! The SOM Men's boat finished third overall, losing to MIT and Tuck in the finals. The SOM Women lost a heart-breaker to a very experienced Harvard Law crew, coming up short by less than half a second (roughly four feet!). The SOM Men's B boat had a very respectable showing in their heat after scrambling to find two substitute oarsmen just days before the race.

The Jimmy Joy gets a new name! To properly honor the man who we call coach and friend, the SOM Crews of '00/'01 bestowed upon Jamie Snider the right to rename the Jimmy Joy, the club's eigth-oared racing shell, with a name of his choosing. As a true man of humility, Jamie immediately responded with the name The Spirit of SOM which will grace the side of the shell in the Fall of this year.

Sweet Victory again!
SOM experienced Women's Boat beat the Harvard B boat in the April 1999 World Graduate Rowing Championships on the Charles River.

If you're going to do it, do it right: Through the hard work and contributions of many dedicated past and present SOM Crew members and friends of the program, the team was able to buy a beautiful bright yellow EMPACHER eight-oared racing shell from Yale Crew (the shell's current name is 'Jimmy Joy', named after a long-time Yale Crew coach)! The boat originally belonged to the Danish National Women's Team, and was raced in the 1996 World Championships, after which it was sold to Yale Crew. From what we have seen at other regattas, the Jimmy Joy is by far the nicest racing shell owned by any top tier b-school. The shell marks a new era for SOM Crew, and we wish to extend a hearty "thank you" to all who helped make the Jimmy Joy a reality.

On Saturday, Oct 23rd, Yale SOM Crew raced for the 1st time in the Head of the Charles Regattaa in the Men's 4 Club category. We placed 44th out of 65 and had a time of 20:58. Cox was Coit Liles. Rowers were Sean Gallagher, Steve Hutt, Charlie Johnston, and Doug Kelly.

Captain Charlie Johnston (SOM '99) entered SOM Crew to become a member of US Rowing Association.

Crew Treasurer Renee Potter (SOM '00) decided to establish a crew web page to facilitate communication within the team and allow alum to participate in the growth of the SIG. Webmaster Doug Kelly (SOM '00) was instrumental in implementing and designing the site.

 

Sweet Victory!
SOM experienced Men's 8 Boat defeated Harvard's experienced Men's 8 boat in the April 11, 1998 World Graduate Rowing Championships on the Charles River. We knocked them out of their own regatta in a dual heat (Yale vs. Harvard only) and rowed in the finals. We placed 4th with the Men's Captain Clark Avery (SOM '98) stroking.

President David Browning (SOM '99) and Treasurer Chris Fraley (SOM '99) actively solicited donations for the purchase of our first shell.

Houck Reed was instrumental in the formation of the charter of the club and began the election of officers.

SOM Crew was founded by Sam Forman, Paul Coggin, and Paul Sparkman (all Class of 1995). Our first big donor ($500) was John Pepper, a Yale undergrad alumnus, and crew athlete in his time, who was a member of SOM's Advisory Board. At the time he was CEO of the Procter and Gamble Company and currently he is now the CEO of Aetna.