Northeastern University Athletics

G. Ernest Arlett, who has since passed away, made rowing a tradition at Northeastern and was elected to the Hall of Fame.

He brought Northeastern both national and international acclaim with his smoothly stroking eight oared shells. In 1965 Arlett gathered a group of novice oarsmen to first Union and then Riverside Boatclub, and by mid-spring had won the Dad Vail Regatta to make Northeastern the Small College Champion of the nation. He not only won it on the varsity level but junior varsity and freshman also. That year the crew was invited to the IRA Regatta and made their first trip to the Henley Royal Regatta. The success that Arlett brought Northeastern quickly elevated them into major circles where further success followed with Eastern Sprints laurels in 1972 and 1973. In both these seasons Northeastern traveled to the Henley Royal Regatta. Both years they battled to the finals of the Grand Challenge Cup and in both years earned rousing cheers from the knowledgeable English rowing fans with their spirited, though losing efforts to the Russian crews. In 1973 they were acclaimed as the finest eight in the United States.

Arlett, a native of Henley-on-Thames, came from a family of distinguished oarsmen, and himself was one of England's finest scullers. He coached college crews at Oxford, club crews at Henley and world-famous scullers such as John B. Kelley before moving to the United States where he coached at Rutgers and Harvard before joining Northeastern in 1964. He brought further acclaim to Northeastern when he was appointed the United States Olympic Coach of Sculling for the 1976 summer games in Montreal.