The Eads Johnson Jr. Cup
Yale Lightweight Team Captain 1934
Commander, USNR 1934 - 1953
To Be Competed For Annually by the
Varsity One Hundred and Fifty Pound Crews
Yale University and the U.S. Naval Academy
| 2015 | Yale | full results |
| 2014 | Yale | full results |
| 2013 | Yale | full results |
| 2012 | Yale | full results |
| 2011 | Yale | full results |
| 2010 | Navy | full results |
| 2009 | Yale | full results |
| 2008 | Yale | full results |
| 2007 | Navy | full results |
| 2006 | Yale | full results |
| 2005 | Navy | full results |
| 2004 | Navy | full results |
Eads Johnson Jr. ‘34
Yale Lightweight Team Captain 1934
Commander, USNR 1934-1953
At the age of 92, Eads Johnson Jr. may feel like he isn’t “getting any younger,” but one thing’s for certain�his memory of the Yale 150-lb. Crew and the US Naval Reserved is definitely intact!
Eads’ rowing career began in 1927 when he enrolled at Kent School in Connecticut. He spent four years on the team and captained his 3rd, 4th, and 5th form crews before going to the Henley Royal Regatta in the Varsity boat in 1930.
Eads continued rowing at Yale University from 1930-1934 on the 150-lb. crew.
During his four years there, one on Yale’s Freshman crew and the other three in the Varsity, he only lost one race�”on this side of the Atlantic.” In June 1933, Eads went back to Henley as the assistant coach for Kent School. When he returned to Yale his senior year as captain of the 150-lb. crew, Eads, along with his teammate Benoni Truslow, decided that the 1934 ‘fifties were going to make Yale history and head to Henley.’ They would be the first Yale crew of the 20th century to go. After much difficulty convincing the university, Eads and his crew finally got permission to make the trip as the Yale University Boat Club.
The trip took eight days to cross the Atlantic on the “Rotterdam”, and the members of one four and one eight maintained their fitness by rowing on the gamut machines and running around the deck. The entire trip, for 18 people, cost $3576.86 compared to a typical $35,000 trip for teams traveling to Henley today. Eads’ crew moved through the first two duals only to come up against the Thames Rowing Club, averaging 15-20 pounds heavier and 6-10 years older, who ultimately won the Thames Challenge Cup. Although their competition in the regatta was over, the Henley experience created a bond that the crew shared for many years. They reunited every five years (except in 1944 due to WWII) to fit in a row, and they returned to Henley in 1969 (35th reunion), 1979 (45th reunion), and 1984 (50th reunion). The 1934 ‘fifties were later honored with a lightweight boat to remember them by, “Henley ‘34”, and unbeknownst to Eads, his name and rank as Captain of the crew were included under the coxswain’s seat.
Eads’ Naval career began at Yale University in the Naval ROTC program. As a senior, he was Battalion Commander of roughly 300 Yale ROTC students. In 1934, Eads graduated with a BS in Engineering and was commissioned as an Ensign in the Navy. In March 1942, he was called into active duty as a communications officer just months before the attack on Pearl Harbor. He was assigned to an attack cargo ship, the USS Hamul, which headed to Iceland to relieve the British.
In December 1942, the USS Hamul was converted to a Destroyer Tender. Eads was one of the few officers who stayed with the ship as a Gunnery Officer and re-engineered the vessel, including a redesign of the torpedo room. After January 1, 1945, Eads Johnson Jr. headed to the Pacific. As a Lt. Cmdr, his ship went to Saipan as the only tender for a fleet of 650 ships. This tour also took him to Iwo Jima, Ulysse and Okinawa. In June 1945, Johnson became the Convoy Commander for the North Typhoon Sortee, in charge of leading 55 ships to safety through the islands as a storm bore down on them. By December 13, 1945, Johnson had obtained enough points to be relieved of h is command and sent home Air One Priority. Johnson arrived home on December 23, 1945, only to find that he had been promoted to Commander one month prior. In 1939, Eads married Jane Cook, and for 58 wonderful years of marriage, he shared his Henley Reunions and Navy stories with her until her passing in 1997. Together, they have three children, 10 grandchildren, and 13 great-grandchildren.
As a devout Yale alumnus and decorated naval officer, there couldn’t be a better figure than Eads Johnson Jr. to represent an annual lightweight crew race between Yale and Navy.
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Johnson Cup March 28, 2015 Lake Carnegie, NJ
| VARSITY | 2nd VARSITY | 3rd VARSITY | ||||||
| Yale | 6:26.5 | Yale | 6:39.6 | Yale | 6:28.5 | |||
| Navy | 6:27.9 | Navy | 6:42.5 | Navy | 6:28.6 | |||
Johnson Cup March 29, 2014 Lake Carnegie, NJ
| VARSITY | 2nd VARSITY | 1st FRESHMAN | ||||||
| Yale | 6:19.9 | Yale | 6:25.2 | Yale | 6:42.5 | |||
| Navy | 6:24.4 | Navy | 6:28.5 | Navy | 6:44.5 | |||
| 3V / 2F | ||||||||
| Navy | 6:47.8 | |||||||
| Navy 4V | 6:55.1 | |||||||
| Yale | 7:10.1 | |||||||
Johnson Cup March 30, 2013 Lake Carnegie, NJ
| VARSITY | 2nd VARSITY | 1st FRESHMAN | ||||||
| Yale | 6:04.8 | Yale | 6:06.2 | Yale | 6:14.5 | |||
| Navy | 6:18.7 | Navy | 6:10.1 | Navy | 6:26.1 | |||
| 3rd VARSITY 4+ | ||||||||
| Yale | 6:59.7 | |||||||
| Navy B | 7:08.3 | |||||||
| Navy A | 7:10.9 | |||||||
| Navy C | 7:22.4 | |||||||
Johnson Cup March 31, 2012 Lake Carnegie, NJ
| VARSITY | 2nd VARSITY | 1st FRESHMAN | ||||||
| Yale | 6:09.32 | Yale | 6:16.53 | Yale | 6:25.09 | |||
| Navy | 6:18.29 | Navy | 6:20.68 | Navy | 6:50.71 | |||
| 3rd VARSITY | ||||||||
| Yale | 6:35.15 | |||||||
| Navy | 6:37.75 | |||||||
| Navy 2F | 6:38.45 | Yale boatings | ||||||
Johnson Cup April 2, 2011 Lake Carnegie, NJ
| VARSITY | 2nd VARSITY | 1st FRESHMAN | ||||||
| Yale | 6:05.5 | Yale | 6:08.7 | Yale | 6:08.0 | |||
| Navy | 6:08.8 | Navy | 6:11.8 | Navy | 6:16.3 | |||
| 3rd VARSITY | 4V/2F | |||||||
| Yale | 6:12.1 | Navy 4V | 6:35.3 | |||||
| Navy | 6:25.4 | Yale 4V/2F | 6:48.3 | |||||
| Navy 2F | 6:55.8 | Yale boatings | ||||||
Johnson Cup April 3, 2010 Lake Carnegie, NJ
| VARSITY | 2nd VARSITY | 1st FRESHMAN | ||||||
| Navy | 5:39.8 | Yale | 5:48.8 | Navy | 5:49.1 | |||
| Yale | 5:41.3 | Navy | 5:53.0 | Yale | 5:51.3 | |||
| 3rd VARSITY | 2nd FRESHMAN | |||||||
| Yale | 5:52.7 | Navy | 6:04.0 | |||||
| Navy | 5:56.1 | Yale | 6:14.8 | Yale boatings | ||||
Johnson Cup March 28, 2009 Lake Carnegie, NJ
| VARSITY | 2nd VARSITY | 1st FRESHMAN | ||||||
| Yale | 6:08.1 | Yale | 6:16.5 | Yale | 6:27.1 | |||
| Navy | 6:10.3 | Navy | 6:19.2 | Navy | 6:30.9 | |||
| 3rd VARSITY | 2nd FRESHMAN | |||||||
| Yale | 6:28.0 | Navy | 6:38.2 | |||||
| Navy | 6:36.5 | Yale | 7:01.2 | Yale boatings | ||||
Johnson Cup April 4, 2008 Lake Carnegie, NJ
| VARSITY | 2nd VARSITY | 1st FRESHMAN | ||||||
| Yale | 6:23.5 | Navy | 6:18.5 | Yale | 6:20.5 | |||
| Navy | 6:29.2 | Yale | 6:22.4 | Navy | 6:27.6 | |||
| 3rd VARSITY | 2nd FRESHMAN | |||||||
| Yale | 6:27.0 | Navy | 6:40.1 | |||||
| Navy | 6:36.7 | Yale | 7:04.9 | Yale boatings | ||||
Johnson Cup March 31, 2007 Lake Carnegie, NJ
| VARSITY | 2nd VARSITY | 1st FRESHMAN | ||||||
| Navy | 5:54.2 | Yale | 5:54.5 | Navy | 6:00.5 | |||
| Yale | 5:56.2 | Navy | 5:56.2 | Yale | 6:01.1 | |||
| 3rd VARSITY | 2nd FRESHMAN | |||||||
| Navy | 6:05.6 | Yale | 6:10.6 | |||||
| Yale | 6:11.3 | Navy | 6:13.8 | Yale boatings | ||||
Johnson Cup April 1, 2006 Mercer Lake, NJ
| VARSITY | 2nd VARSITY | 1st FRESHMAN | ||||||
| Yale | 5:51.8 | Navy | 6:04.8 | Navy | 6:04.3 | |||
| Navy | 5:54.6 | Yale | 6:11.4 | Yale | 6:06.2 | |||
| 3rd VARSITY | 2nd FRESHMAN | |||||||
| Navy | 6:11.8 | Navy | 6:28.3 | |||||
| Yale | 6:16.6 | Yale | 6:39.0 | Yale boatings | ||||
Johnson Cup April 2, 2005 Mercer Lake, NJ
| VARSITY | 2nd VARSITY | 1st FRESHMAN | ||||||
| Navy | 6:28.8 | Navy | 6:49.5 | Navy | 6:52.0 | |||
| Yale | 6:31.3 | Yale | 6:50.4 | Yale | 7:03.0 | |||
| 3rd VARSITY | 2nd FRESHMAN | |||||||
| Navy | 7:09.0 | cancelled due | ||||||
| Yale | 7:39.0 | to conditions | Yale boatings | |||||
Johnson Cup April 3, 2004 Mercer Lake, NJ
| VARSITY | 2nd VARSITY | 1st FRESHMAN | ||||||
| Navy | 5:53.3 | Yale | 6:05.0 | Navy | 6:05.6 | |||
| Yale | 5:56.9 | Navy | 6:07.6 | Yale | 6:14.3 | |||
| 3rd VARSITY | 2nd Fr. 4+ | |||||||
| Navy | 6:11.8 | Navy | 7:13.3 | |||||
| Yale | 6:22.9 | Yale | 7:16.7 | |||||
| Navy | 7:17.5 | Yale boatings | ||||||