The Eight: A Season in the Tradition of Harvard Crew » (First Edition)

SUSAN SAINT SING has both competed in and coached rowing, and is an authority on rowing history. She was a member of the 1993 US World Rowing Team and lives in Stuart, Florida.

A fascinating look at the 2008 Harvard Varsity Crew Team and the university’s legendary history of accomplished rowers

The Eight is a thrilling, behind-the-scenes look at a group of young men who have given up nearly everything to transform themselves into the best team possible at arguably the world’s most venerable rowing institution, Harvard crew. Through a blend of journalistic writing and historical narrative, Saint Sing highlights their struggles and triumphs as she follows them through the spring season of 2008.
This exclusive, competitive world is illuminated as never before as the athletes race for the collegiate national championship and one former member achieves a historic first for Harvard: a gold medal at the 2008 Olympic Games.
What these men go through physically to earn a seat in the Harvard first eight is just the beginning. The real test of their mettle is the inner athlete called upon to make their dreams a reality in this very tense and dramatic world. The Eight chronicles the drama of a full season of elite college racing, including the bitter personal struggles and the team’s pursuit of excellence.

Publishers Weekly

Although Harvard's legendary varsity crew did not measure up to expectations in intercollegiate competition in 2008, four of its alumni competed in the Beijing Olympics, and one—Malcolm Howard rowing for Canada—won the gold. In this fluid, thorough work by a former member of the U.S. National Rowing Team, journalist Sing takes a breathlessly reverential survey of the tradition of Harvard crew, first established in the Yale-Harvard regatta of 1852, expanded by innovative Harvard president Charles Eliot and championed by alum (and sculler) Teddy Roosevelt at the turn of the last century. The event's apotheosis came during the undefeated 1974–1975 season, coached by Olympian Harry Lambert Parker. Sing carefully notes Parker's coolheaded training method during early morning practices at the Newell Boathouse, where “you can smell time.... a place hallowed by deed and deserving of awe.” Over 46 years with Parker at the helm, the Crimson crews have gained 19 undefeated seasons and 17 national championships. Sing is besotted by Harvard's longstanding influence on athletics and makes an enthusiastic case for the role of sports in defining a noble character. (Mar.)