This dunking wasn’t the crew’s way of telling the coach he was all wet.

The occasion was the Eastern Sprints Regatta. The varsity race had been billed as a battle between favorites Harvard and Penn. But, in a dramatic turn, the scrappy NU crew cleaned up the competition in the final 500 meters. So the rowers celebrated their first Eastern title by tossing coach Ernie Arlett into the chilly waters of Worcester’s Lake Quinsigamond—the ritual bath following victory.

The triumph was particularly sweet. Seven years earlier, Arlett had defected from the Crimson to introduce rowing to NU. And the last time Northeastern had met Harvard on the waters, in 1968, the Huskies had been sunk. That got Arlett all fired up for a rematch.

NU’s elite eight, which ended the season with a 4-1 record, earned the university its second-ever invitation to England’s prestigious Henley Royal Regatta. Though the Huskies lost by two-thirds of a boat length, their spirits weren’t dampened: They nabbed their second Eastern title the following year.