A Historic Season Continues: Big Green Set to Compete at Henley

Early in the school year, it was clear that Dartmouth men's heavyweight rowing's varsity eight had the makings of a special season.

"Having a good core group of guys returning — along with Billy [Bender] coming back from the Olympics and having a really good first-year group joining us — it felt like there was certainly potential," said Wyatt Allen, Betsy and Mark Gates 1959 Head Coach of Men's Heavyweight Rowing.

The Head of the Charles in October was an early reminder of that potential. The Big Green showed the speed to be one of the best crews in the country, finishing third overall in the Championship Eight as the second college finisher.

Success would follow in a big way. Flash forward to the end of the spring when the Big Green would finish second at the Eastern Sprints and third at the IRA National Championship, barely over a second behind national champion Washington. It was the heavyweight rowing program's best finish since 1992.

And now, they will have one last opportunity to row together, at the Henley Royal Regatta which runs from July 1-6 in Henley-on-Thames, England. Racing for the Big Green kicks off on Friday.

How it Happened
Getting to this point has been months in the making. Senior Julian Thomas was optimistic entering the season.

"We realized we had the opportunity to medal and compete for a national championship after the Charles," he said. "It validated that we had a talented group and motivated us to continue pushing hard through the winter seasons, when generally motivation is low."

A strong winter and spring training camp led to a historic start to the spring at Yale, as the Big Green captured the Olympic Axe for the first time in the Axe's 21-year history.

The varsity eight's resiliency was on full display. In less-than-ideal conditions (rain and wind), the Big Green defeated the Bulldogs.

"The Yale result was another big step forward for them in terms of believing," said Allen.

Keep the word resiliency in mind.

Check out the end of the varsity eight's win today to claim the Olympic Axe for the first time in its 21-year history!#GoBigGreen | #TheWoods🌲 pic.twitter.com/r9Y3HNfQKv
— Dartmouth Men's Heavyweight Rowing (@BigGreenHeavies) April 5, 2025

Resilience wasn't only on full display against the Bulldogs, but also has been for the entirety of these student-athletes' careers.

"Julian (Thomas), Munroe (Robinson), Sammy (Houdaigui), Miles (Hudgins) — guys who came out of the varsity last year — were really disappointed with the way things ended," said Allen. "It would have been really easy to not fully invest in this year the way they did."

The Big Green varsity eight finished 11th in the nation in 2024 and were determined to improve in 2025.

"They continued to trust the training and our program, as well as me and our staff," said Allen. "It is a resilient group, and they came back this fall with an 'all-in' approach. Their approach and hard work were converted to belief and momentum through big early-season results."

After Yale, the Big Green varsity defeated Boston University for the Bill Cup, then hosted the Lake Morey Invitational where they beat Syracuse, Wisconsin and Columbia over the course of two days. A win over Northeastern wrapped up an undefeated dual season.

The Eastern Sprints led to a true moment of resilience. Despite a tough start during the grand final, the Big Green roared back to earn silver, 1.3 seconds behind Harvard. Below are the final results.

1. Harvard – 5:33.895
2. Dartmouth – 5:35.577
3. Princeton – 5:37.575
4. Yale – 5:38.275
5. Brown – 5:38.783
6. Penn – 5:39.133

"For them to be in sixth place coming through the 500 and be able to stick together, trust their base speed and row themselves back into silver-medal position, that was a huge moment," said Allen.

First-year Lucas Maroney explained the resilience the crew had to show.

"It's so easy to just give up on a race when you're down six seats off the first couple strokes, but it really showed a lot staying together through that and rowing through such a competitive field," he said. "That was an awesome experience and a good show of what we can do together.

"We definitely carried a lot of momentum out of that."

In the end, a negative (slow start to the race) turned into a positive (further belief in their speed).

"I believe the easiest thing to fix in terms of race execution, is getting better out of the blocks," said Allen. "They did that between Sprints and IRAs."

Full coverage from a strong showing at Eastern Sprints on Sunday, featuring medals in our 1V, 2V and 4V.

📰 | https://t.co/3MkofT0LzJ #GoBigGreen | #TheWoods🌲 pic.twitter.com/MVz5dUDGWI
— Dartmouth Men's Heavyweight Rowing (@BigGreenHeavies) May 19, 2025

At the national championship, the Big Green took care of business in their heat and a challenging semifinal. That set the stage for the grand final, which Dartmouth hadn't qualified for in the varsity eight since 2004.

The feeling entering the grand final was, as Thomas said, one of "immense gratitude."

"There was also excitement that the work we'd put in throughout the year had given us the opportunity to compete for a national championship with the best in the country," he said. "There definitely were nerves as well. Everybody went out with the intent to give it their all."

A tight race was expected and saw the Big Green finish in third place with a time of 5:30.90, just 0.15 seconds behind Harvard and only 1.12 seconds behind Washington in first. Dartmouth was 1.3 seconds ahead of fourth-place Princeton.

"To be going against the top collegiate crews and racing against teams like Washington and Harvard was really cool," said Maroney. "I remember growing up and watching these races."

Bronze medal for the varsity eight at the IRA National Championship!

Check out the final strokes of a very tight final 🎥#GoBigGreen | #TheWoods🌲 pic.twitter.com/bVmgvKCbwp
— Dartmouth Men's Heavyweight Rowing (@BigGreenHeavies) June 1, 2025

Maroney was not only a relatively recent addition to the varsity eight, but it also marked his first time ever rowing in an eight.

"I've been at some big competitions, but this was my first year actually learning to sweep row," he said. "That was a pretty steep learning curve, but it was really fun."

Maroney's growth over the course of the year is a testament to not only his talent, but also the coaching — led by Allen and assistant coaches Sabrina Bohrer and Jack Smith. Allen was recently named the IRCA National Coach of the Year.
Wyatt Allen

Thomas touched on the belief Allen has instilled into the Big Green.

"Wyatt has taken this program from the bottom of the Ivy League to competing for a national championship in a very short time," said Thomas. "Year after year, he has inspired this belief that we can compete with anybody on any given day. And this was the year when it all came to fruition."

Reasons for the success were both tangible and intangible.

"Rowing is a very hard sport; it's not fun all the time," said Thomas. "You go out early in the morning, it's cold, it's wet at times and the work's very hard, but we have a group of guys who manage to find fun within the process — whether it's joking with each other or playing pranks on each other throughout the year.

"That has really kept it light-hearted when perhaps people are down or when you forget why you're doing it," Thomas continued. "On top of it, we all are very competitive, and we've all kept the goals we set at the start of the year in mind — beating crews that we hadn't historically beaten."

How did that happen?

"The capacity and ability of the guys, and the depth of the team — not limited to the nine guys in the top boat — was obviously a big factor," said Allen. "Having someone like Billy in the stroke seat, having his experience and his rhythm, was a big piece of it. Having the senior leadership leading that group throughout the year was another big piece of it as well. Lastly, the way the personalities fit in the crew and the respect they have for one another was a big contributor to the success of the crew over a long season."

Recap from a thrilling end of the season for the varsity eight and the Big Green!

📰 | https://t.co/5myRFBs8Cr #GoBigGreen | #TheWoods🌲
— Dartmouth Men's Heavyweight Rowing (@BigGreenHeavies) June 1, 2025

Looking Ahead to the Henley
The Big Green are aiming to continue the chemistry at the Henley Royal Regatta. Dartmouth's eight will be competing in the Ladies' Challenge Plate, which includes a mix of international and United States crews, one of which is Harvard.

"It's always a matter of perspective, but I would say the Olympics are the biggest stage in our sport, and it's arguable that Henley is the second biggest stage for our sport internationally," said Allen. "To have a Dartmouth crew representing the boathouse and the college is pretty incredible. Having that exposure for international recruiting is huge as well."

"We were obviously thrilled with the result at the IRA and the Eastern Sprints, but I definitely feel like there was some unfinished business," said Thomas. "We definitely have more in us, and we're very grateful for the opportunity. I'd like to thank the donors who gave us the opportunity to go race at Henley."

The regatta gives the five seniors in the boat one last opportunity to represent the college they love. It also gives one junior and three first-years more valuable experience they can draw from heading into next season.

"This has been a big bucket list race of mine for a long time," said Maroney. "I'm really excited to once again prove ourselves one more time with this crew."

Allen called the Henley "icing on the cake" after Sprints and the IRA.

"I'm proud of them, and psyched that they were able to win medals, both at Sprints and the IRA and earn this opportunity," said Allen.

"One of the best things about coaching at Dartmouth, and coaching in our boathouse, is the incredible alumni support," Allen continued. "The fact that we had several key individuals step up right away and make this trip possible for the guys is incredible and something none of us take for granted."

Schedules