“We don’t have a plan as to what we will wear yet this year,” Bonorris said. “Usually it comes together around the last minute.”

A reason for the improvisational nature of the shirts is that athletes get to decide what to wear on their own. As long as the outfits don’t get in the way of rowing, coaches won’t interfere.

“[The boats] just kind of do it themselves,” Lapage said. “We don’t really give them any guidance. Just something that’s not totally ridiculous.”

The tradition of costumes stretches back three decades. A 1983 article in The Crimson mentioned that some rowers chose to wear “Mickey Mouse hats and Halloween masks” and that fans threw beer cans to the oarsmen after the race had ended that year.

As distracting as some outfits might be, they contribute to an environment that is unique to the Head of the Charles.

“You can definitely feel the atmosphere when you get to the start line,” senior heavyweight Charles Risbey said. “It’s not often you get to row in front of hundreds of thousands of people.”