Harvard want to compensate for 2014 Great Race

Harvard University’s rowing crew are back in Hamilton with memories of 2014 on their mind.

They will take part in the Great Race on Sunday looking to put their 2014 race behind them, after a coming together saw the race restarted and their placement on the river end any chance of a win.

Kiwi James O’Connor was part of the crew last year and returns in 2015 with that performance well and truly on his mind.

Half of the crew from last year return for the race, and O’Connor said they bring experience and potentially more talent than was on show last year.

‘‘We wanted to get as many of our crew from last year back as we could, but with work commitments some of us couldn’t come back,’’ O’Connor said.

‘‘Last year was a motivating factor in wanting to come back and have a crack at Waikato again, that’s for sure.

‘‘We potentially have a stronger crew this year than we had last year, and obviously we’re more experienced because a few of us have been here before. Our strength will be relative to the weaknesses in the other crews. We’ll be sure to make the most of that.’’

Harvard took to the Waikato River for the first time as a full crew yesterday afternoon, having trained earlier in the week with two fill-ins, because two of their rowers only arrived in Hamilton late on Tuesday night.

O’Connor said Australian Josh Hicks and American Michael DiSanto had been competing at the rowing world championships.

Hicks was a reserve for the Australian team, while DiSanto helped qualify the men’s pair for the Olympic Games in Rio in 2016.

‘‘We might be battling a bit of jet lag, in fact I’m sure we will be, so getting out on the river as much as we can will be a big help for Sunday.

‘‘Hopefully we can avoid any of the stuff that happened last year. Even if it did I can imagine it’s pretty exciting to watch, so that can only be a good thing for the race.’’