The first D150 crew
A Brief History of Dartmouth Lightweight Rowing
1947-2025
Dartmouth Lightweight Rowing was started in 1948 by Harrington “Pete” Cummings ’51 to expand rowing opportunities for student-athletes considered too small for the heavyweight team. Pictured above is the very first D150 crew that was coached by Pete (not in the picture).
Hart Perry ‘55
After Pete graduated, the next Dartmouth Lightweight coach of the modern era was the legendary W. Hartwell Perry, Jr ’55, commonly known as Hart Perry. He coached the lightweights as an undergraduate, and took the first D150 boat to Henley in 1955. After he graduated, he became the longtime coach at Kent School, as well as the president of the United States Rowing Association. Also a FISA umpire, he officiated at multiple World Championships and two Olympic Games. Finally, as the informal “Dean of American Rowing”, he was the very first American to be named a Steward of the Henley Royal Regatta.
1955-1978
After Hart Perry graduated, Head Coach Peter Gardner coached both the lightweights and heavyweights for almost two decades, with an assistant who coached the freshmen boats. One of those assistants was Dick Grossman, a former Harvard coxswain who had competed at the Munich and Montreal Olympics, and who joined the D heavyweight program in 1975. By the time Dick’s heavyweight freshmen won the Eastern Sprints in 1978, trying to coordinate both heavyweight and lightweight schedules became unwieldy, so the decision was made to split the crews and make Dick the first official head coach of the lightweights.
Peter V.W. Gardner (Princeton ‘46)
1978-2025
While seeing significant success in the 1970’s and 80’s, the period of 1990-2020 was when the program took off. The 1990 Varsity finished second to Yale by a bowball at the IRA/National Championship, while the first D150 crew to win the Eastern Sprints was the 1990-1991 Freshman Lightweights, coached by Max Borghard. Building upon that success, Dick Grossman’s varsity crews in 1993 and 1994 also won the Eastern Sprints, followed by Chris Schmidt ’90’s Freshman crew in 1996. In 2007, Steve Perry’s Varsity won the gold at Eastern Sprints while also setting the standing course record of 5:38.9. Finally, Dan Roock’s 2011-13 Varsities all made the podium, and most recently, Trevor Michelson’s Varsity finished second at the 2025 IRA’s despite having zero recruits.
D150 on the International Stage
Dartmouth Lightweights have traditionally competed at the Henley Royal Regatta, racing both eights and fours over multiple days. The Lights also boast two Olympians: Anthony Fahden ’08 (Lwt 4-, London 2012, Rio 2016), and Joshua Konieczny ’13 (Rio 2016 Lwt 2x), as well as as scores of US National Team Rowers.
Anthony Fahden ‘08
Photo courtesy of Charlie Nearburg
Josh Konieckzy ‘13