1973 Corsair History

With six of the nine oarsmen from the 1972 varsity returning in 1973, three new oarsmen—Brian O’Connor, Chris Meehan, and Jack Irving—joined the lineup and helped begin another chapter in Northeastern’s rowing history with the Corsair.

The varsity used the Corsair throughout the 1973 season, gradually learning to row it faster and more effectively with each race. The results confirmed their progress: Northeastern won every regular-season race and was never led by another crew. Building on the 1972 Eastern Sprints victory and the undefeated 1973 campaign, NU was seeded first ahead of Harvard, Wisconsin, Brown, Penn, and Navy for the 1973 Sprints, held on Saturday, May 12.

The crew and the Corsair justified that top seed. In the final, NU came off the start at 43 strokes per minute, took command early, and led all the way to a near-record victory. The races unfolded through the recollections of several crew members.
In Saturday morning’s varsity heat, Northeastern lined up against Wisconsin, Rutgers, Yale, and Princeton. Stroke Calvin Coffey later summarized the race for the May 18, 1973, edition of the Northeastern News:

“We planned to row for second in the heat on Saturday morning,” Coffey explained. “We figured that Wisconsin would be the major competition and also figured on Rutgers to be stronger by this time. I told the rest of the boat that we were just going to row for second. At the same time, we had to feel out Wisconsin. So I decided to row hard for the first 1,500 meters and then see where we were. At the 1000, I called for a power 20 and we moved on Wisconsin with comparative ease. So, I decided that we could take them if we wanted to, and when they took the beat up to answer our power piece, I let them go. Then we just rowed to hold off the challenge of Yale.” NU finished second to Wisconsin in the heat.

The Sprints final was set with Northeastern, Wisconsin, Harvard, Pennsylvania, Brown, and Cornell. Before launching, the crew gathered to discuss its final strategy.

“We expected the race to be four or five boats fighting it out in the last 20 strokes,” Captain Bill Backman said. “Wisconsin, Harvard, Brown, and Penn figured to be right there with us.” Six-man John Maslowski remembered the crowd, estimated at 1,200 NU students, as a major source of energy: “The psych they produced in the boat was unbelievable.”

Five-man Pete Karassik agreed: “I got psyched to win this one for the crowd. When we passed the crowd and I saw all those people cheering for us, I knew we had to do the job.” When the command to start was given, Northeastern blasted off the line at 43½ strokes per minute. “It was a good start,” Cox Frank Leahy said. “One of the best we have had.” As the crew settled into the body of the race, NU, Harvard, and Wisconsin pulled away from the rest of the field.

At the 500-meter mark, Coffey decided Northeastern needed to make the first move. “Nobody had challenged us, so I decided that we had to make the first move, and I called for a build in the power and wanted the stroke to go up,” he explained. “We got the beat to a 39.” Northeastern stretched the lead to a full length, and no crew mounted a serious challenge. With about 200 meters remaining, Wisconsin passed Harvard, but NU still held its one-length lead. Northeastern won in a near-record time of 5:54.6, followed by Wisconsin in 5:57.0, Harvard in 5:57.9, Pennsylvania in 6:05.3, and Brown in 6:06.6.

“We rowed a conservative race,” Coffey said. “We had a good start and then rowed within ourselves. I thought that we had the race won at the 100-meter mark.” Maslowski was surprised by the time: “I went to school in this area and we had rowing. The time was really fast. It didn’t feel that fast. But then the boat was swinging so well that it just flew.” It was one of those rare, seemingly effortless rowing experiences when the crew was fully attuned and in control of the race.

Coach Arlett, usually the picture of a reserved British gentleman, was beside himself with joy. “Before the final, I was a little apprehensive,” he said. “But as I saw the race approaching, I couldn’t see anybody being able to pass them. This year was a fresh job, and the boys rowed tremendously.”

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The NU varsity had not trailed in a single race during the 1973 season and was ready for Penn, which had finished fourth at the Sprints. One distinctive feature of that season was Northeastern’s use of the Donoratico Corsair in every race. Unlike the Pocock shells rowed by many other college crews, the Corsair was more difficult to set up and handle; when rowed well, however, it performed beautifully and proved to be a difference-maker for NU.

Northeastern went on to lead Penn from the first stroke and won the race by two lengths. With the undefeated season intact, NU was seeded first for the 1973 IRA National Championships, held in early June on Lake Onondaga in Syracuse, New York.

At the IRA, Northeastern reached the final and drew the outside lane, Lane 6, farther toward the middle of the lake. As the crew already knew, the Corsair was not an easy boat to row in rough water, and Lane 6 had some of the roughest conditions on the course. NU battled through the conditions and finished third, behind Wisconsin in Lane 1, the calmest lane, and Brown, which placed second. The result underscored both sides of the Corsair: in smoother water, it could give a strong, capable crew an added edge; in rough water, it also carried risks.

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After the highly successful 1973 season, Northeastern packed up the Corsair and sent it by plane to England at the end of June to compete at both the Nottingham International Regatta and the Henley Royal Regatta. The Corsair again supported a powerful NU crew at Nottingham, where Northeastern finished second in the final to a Russian crew and ahead of Wisconsin.

At Henley, NU again defeated Wisconsin, this time by a full length in a head-to-head semifinal. On the strength of those two post-IRA victories over Wisconsin, Sports Illustrated (July 16, 1973, edition) recognized Northeastern as U.S. national champion. NU then advanced to the final of the Grand Challenge Cup, where it lost to the same Russian crew that had won at Nottingham.

The Corsair had proven to be a valuable partner to a talented crew, sharing in the victories that defined one of Northeastern rowing’s most memorable seasons.

 

1973 Eastern Sprints Champions and IRA Bronze Medalists

• Bow - Geoff Marshall

• 2 - Bill Backman

• 3 - Jack Irving

• 4 - Chris Meehan

• 5 - Peter Karassik

• 6 - John Maslowski

• 7 - Brian O'Connor

• 8 - Cal Coffey

• Cox - Frank Leahy