A Glorious Rowing Reign

Another rowing season is winding down and once again the Harvard heavyweight and lightweight varsity crews can put an Eastern Sprints Championship trophy into their coffers.

This year's victories were the 19th in 43 years for both the heavyweight and lightweight crews.

The Crimson heavies will also be aiming for their fourth national championship in the 1980s when they race in two weeks in Cincinnati. They are expected to receive an invitation to the Henley Regatta, which they won in 1985.

The Crimson heavyweight crew's loss to Penn and Navy on April 30 this year ended the squad's bid for its 14th undefeated season under the 26-year reign of Coach Harry Parker.

What is the secret to the Harvard rowing program's success? How has it continued the tradition of producing championship-caliber crews since 1852, when the Crimson defeated Yale in the first intercollegiate competition of any kind?

"What has changed since I first began coaching here at Harvard," Parker says, "is the quality of the people in the rowing program. We've been lucky to consistently field four boats of people committed to crew."

How has the Harvard men's crew program attracted so many people with diverse backgrounds and experience in rowing and consistently fielded some of the faster boats in the country?

Those who rowed in high school are lured by the winning tradition of the program and the opportunity to work under the "legendary" Parker, whose squad's victory over Princeton and MIT on April 23 this season gave him his 100th career win as Harvard's rowing guru.

"The Harvard tradition was a pretty large factor in my coming here," says freshman heavyweight Owen West, who rowed for four years at St. Paul's High School in Minneapolis, Minn.

"For experienced rowers going to college," heavyweight coxswain James Crick says, "the difference is Parker. He's great coach and he's coached so many great crews. It's a big factor in some people coming here over other schools."

Even novices who never rowed in high school have considered the Harvard rowing program a positive factor in determining their college choice.

"I was deciding between Harvard and Rice," lightweight varsity coxswain Mark Coyne says. "The idea of coxing at Harvard was an important part of my decision."

Parker is quick to point out how much of a factor the University is in drawing some of the nation's best rowers to the Crimson.

"Harvard sells itself pretty well," Harvard's coach says. "The attraction is the opportunity to attend a great university with an outstanding reputation while also participating in a rowing program also with an outstanding reputation."

However, the secret of Harvard's success also includes the program's ability to attract novices to the sport, keep their interest in crew, and develop some of them into sturdy varsity rowers.

Sophomore Peter Sharis rowed every race this year for the 8-1 varsity heavyweight squad after joining the program as a novice last season.

"I think the key attraction for the novices is that rowing is a very rewarding sport, especially if you're with the best," adds heavyweight Mike O'Toole, who transferred from the University of California to row with the Crimson. "People who want to row come here."

Most of the rowers in the lightweight program had never rowed prior to coming to Harvard so there is plenty of incentive for novices to compete for top positions within the program. The 1968 Harvard lightweight boat, which represented the United States in the Olympics, included only one oarsman who had rowed in high school.

Although the key factor in the success of the Crimson crews is the talent and commitment of the rowers, Parker and the coaching staff have played a major role in forming these legions of rowers into a solid core of fast boats.

"We operate on a standard set by the head coach [Parker]," lightweight Coach Charles Butt says. "Harry's a great model of hard work and he creates a spirit relishing competition. We try and make the program a lot of fun. despite it being so competitive."

Parker especially credits the freshman coaches for producing enough consistent and powerful freshman rowers to continue Harvard's winning tradition when they graduate to the varsity program.

"They keep the varsity and freshman programs well integrated," Parker adds. "The freshman program is where it all starts."

"What the coaches do here is create the idea that, `Yes, rowing is fun and a great way to spend time,'" Coyne says. "This includes a series of challenges designed to get you deeper into the program and to eventually get you hooked."

Since Parker began the novelty of year-round training for the spring crew season many years ago, it has become harder to get people to commit so much time of their collegiate lives throughout the academic year. Some of the special activities for the oarsmen during the off-season training period include the Tail of the Charles--the freshman equivalent of the Head of the Charles--in the fall, and the Crash-B Indoor Rowing Championships in the winter on MIT's simulation ergometers.

The Harvard crew program requires more than just talented, committed rowers and the best coaches in the country. It requires facilities and support, which it has been blessed with, according to Parker.

"We've got great water to practice on," says Harvard's coach, sitting in front of Newell boathouse and motioning to the placid Charles River.

Powerful rowers guided by motivational coaches in a competitive but also fun atmosphere on modern equipment at excellent facilities is the equation which has created so many winning crews in the Harvard rowing program. The equation hasn't changed since Parker joined the program in 1962, and it won't change in the future, insists the Crimson coach.

"It's a self-perpetuating dynasty," O'Toole claims.