After five Manny Flicks, the crew team was ready for the championship season to begin.
According to Head Coach John Stephanik, the team philosophy is to encourage participation and put athletes in a position to feel a sense of success.
“Success does not always come from winning,” Coach Stephanik said. “It is also about the overall growth of the athlete.”
While winning may not be the total focus, Haverford was set up to succeed. Several boats either won their races or the time trial at Flick Five to give them the best seeding.
As the boats prepared for May 3rd’s City Championships, a factor out of the team’s control began to take shape: the weather. For the crew team, weather takes on a whole new meaning.
Even the smallest bit of wind can stir up waves that make it much harder to row. Additionally, all the rain in the surrounding area feeds into the river leading to a strong current. While the boats do go faster, it is much harder to get a strong connection with the water and add push.
During the early City time trials, there was much chop, and the times were a little slow. Despite this, eight out of eleven Haverford crews powered through the time trials and into the finals.
Early on Sunday morning, the first Haverford crew struck gold. The Freshman Quad, made up of third formers Cliff Weng, Cormac Lissack, Weston Messner, and Connor Smith, powered past Haddon Township and Malvern Prep to victory. Shortly after, the Frosh Eight and Novice Quad both won bronze.
After a strong showing in the youngest events, the crew team turned to the repeat racers.
The JV Four, composed of Fourth Formers Ethan Qiang and Andrew Walker and Fifth Formers Luke Maguire and Nate Gill, coxed by Fourth Former Delaney Joseph, was racing together for the first time at Cities. After winning both the time trial and having the best time of both semifinals, the four were looking good.
Christian Brothers Academy, however, was a determined competitor. After absolutely ripping off the line, they held equal to Haverford until the final 250 meters. There, the difference between power and rate reared its head. Haverford began to up the press and their rate while the spent Christian Brothers fell behind. Haverford smashed the race open and took the second gold of the day by five seconds.
“It felt great to break them in the final bit of the race. They were holding us for the first half of the race, and we were expecting it to go down to the wire.”
Andrew Walker ’27
“It felt great to break them in the final bit of the race. They were holding us for the first half of the race, and we were expecting it to go down to the wire,” said Walker.
After this exciting win, four boats had yet to race: the Lightweight Varsity Four, Second Varsity Four, Varsity Quad, and Varsity Four.
The lightweights were determined to keep the winning streak up. Described as “dawgs” by Sixth Form Captain and coxswain Eddie Grant, the lightweight crew composed of Sixth Formers Will Suter and Sabby Gillis, Fourth Former Patch Hope, Fifth Former Peter McElhone, and Third Former coxswain Will Komada, the Lightweight won by over six seconds. The Second Varsity Four fell just short of a medal with a tough fourth-place finish.
After holding second place for almost the entire race, the quad fell short and came in fourth.
Fifth Former Benas Antanavicius said, “I think there is a lot of room for improvement. Now we know what the competition is like. Coming out of this weekend, we know what we need to do. We are one of the strongest boats out there. But we are not good. We need to work on our technique. We are separated into the Stern and Bow pair. We need to connect those together to win.”
The final boat of the day was the showstopper. Stroked by Sixth Form Georgetown-commit Michael Bartholdson, and with a bow pair composed of Boston University-commit Grey Benson and Hamilton-commit Quinn Sullivan, the boat had been given an additional advantage when Cornell-commit Noah Kanefsky was switched from the varsity quad to complete the stern pair.
“It was pretty easy to shift,” Kanefsky stated, “Sculling requires lots of relaxation, boat feel, and just solid technique, which carries over well. Going from two oars to one, if you boil it down, is easier.”
With this powerhouse lineup, Haverford was ready to go.
“The boat felt heavy, and we did not have a lot of power in the first two races,” Benson said.
Despite these subpar performances, Haverford was still winning by lengths. In the final, it changed.
“The boat felt light and we all could feel the boat accelerating through the water, gaining speed. The finish line was the best feeling of the weekend as we were able to celebrate and smack the water when we came in first,” Benson said.
“Winning at every level is special.”
Eddie Grant ’25
It was Grant’s first medal.
“It was long overdue,” Grant said. “Winning at every level is special. It just shows how great our coaching staff is. In terms of the team itself, I couldn’t be prouder of the young guys. We have underclassmen who have already adopted the race-to-win mentality.”
Coach Stephanik agreed.
“City Championships was a great step in the right direction. Not only did it show the efforts of the group, but also the overall depth of the program,” Coach Stephanik said. “Haverford Crew is in a unique situation where we row both methods, sweep and sculling, unlike most of the programs we race. Sometimes there is balance in our results, and sometimes we sway one way or the other. I feel with the depth of the team, the future is bright with both sweep and sculling.”
Now the team begins to prepare for their final two tournaments. The Stotesbury Cup, on the Philly stomping grounds, is the weekend of May 16. It will feature many strong crews from across the country that the team must face. And the National Championships are a week later, beginning on May 23rd.
“St. Joe’s Prep, BCC, Norfolk, and Christian Brothers’ Academy are some teams this year and last year that were very tough competition,” Benson said.
The team is preparing for these battles.
“We try to find consistency in our training model so that we are prepared for whatever is ahead,” Coach Stephanik said. “There is a heightened excitement and level of competition in the championship races. If we stick to our preparation and focus on the Haverford style of rowing, we should see continued growth and confidence moving forward. All boats are putting in a great effort in our practices, improvement will be gained by small adjustments and finding more speed going into our last few races.”
“It’s about showing up, putting meters down, and buying in. It’s pretty simple if you come ready to put your body on the line and buy into making adjustments so that we go fast,” Kanefsky said. “We need to let the boat run out with some more swing to get a feel for our boat. We have the speed, we just need a bit more feeling, which comes slowly day after day.”
The captains are proud of the team’s work this year.
“We are very grateful to have a senior class that leads and pushes one another,” Benson said. “This season, multiple seniors have stood out to the team as being dominant. Noah Kanesfky and Michael Bartholdson have contributed in numerous ways to the City championship for the Varsity 4+. Along with Will Suter and Sabby Gillis, who have also led their lightweight 4+ to a city championship through their skill, power, and leadership.”
“The seniors as a group have shown great direction for the program and have been consistent in pursuing our goals.”
Coach Jonathan Stephanik
Benson then continued his appreciation of the younger classes.
“We have a very good freshman and sophomore class. Besides the impressive erg times they put up, they are also very skilled in the Boat. Benas Antanavicius is the clear candidate for standing out among the rest, as he contributes in numerous ways of power and skill to the varsity quad. Other underclassmen that have stood out to contribute in big ways to their boat speed are Ethan Qiang and Cliff Wang. Ethan has shown a lot of growth this spring season, both on the erg and water. Cliff is the third seat of the freshman 4x and has also contributed in numerous ways to the gold medal they received at city championships through the power and endurance he brought to their race.”
Coach Stephanik also praises the team.
“The seniors as a group have shown great direction for the program and have been consistent in pursuing our goals,” he explained. “As boats, we have seen great things from both our Freshman and JV line-ups. They have shown huge improvements and are buying into our culture of the program. The coaching staff is proud of the hard work and determination of the team this year. We are excited to see how things wrap up with our last two championship races of the season.”
Grant finished up with his hopes for the remainder of the season.
“Things only get harder as we go, so it’s important that guys stay committed to the process,” Grant said. “I think some boats are going to find another gear this week, and we’re gonna take back some hardware.”
