1973
Elizabeth C. Kent
E
lizabeth “Bets” Kent was a four-year day student at Abbot Academy and a member of the school’s final graduating class. She competed in field hockey and tennis and was co-captain of varsity tennis her senior-mid and senior years. At Dartmouth College, Bets decided to check out the boathouse and the river, inspired by younger sister Margot Kent Timbel ’75’s infectious enthusiasm for rowing at Phillips Academy. Bets joined the nascent women’s crew program during sophomore year and competed on the varsity the next two seasons. As a senior she received the award given to “the woman who has made the most significant contribution to rowing.” After graduation in 1977, Bets moved to Philadelphia to row with Vesper Boat Club and pursue her dream of making the National Team. She won the national championship in the four in 1978, competed in Europe that summer, and raced
4
in Moscow in a pair in 1979. Her rowing career highlight was making the 1980 Olympic Team, but that team was unable to compete in Moscow due to the U.S. boycott. Post-Olympics, Bets earned an MBA from the Wharton School and pursued a career in investments. She later joined Cambridge Associates in Boston, where she worked in endowment consulting and management for numerous nonprofit organizations, including Phillips Academy. Bets has been a member of the investment committees for the U.S. Olympic Committee and the National Rowing Foundation and is currently on the board of the Cambridge Boat Club. Bets has a long affiliation with the Head of the Charles Regatta as a volunteer, co-chair in the 1990s, and competitor for some 35 years. She trains on the water, on a bike, or on mountain hikes, always looking forward to getting to the HOCR starting (and finish!) line with her former teammates.
1980 Women’s Olympic Rowing Team: Bets Kent is fourth row, fourth from right. 5