Harvard’s own Harry Parker, coach of men’s heavyweight crew, is featured in a book about rowing: Peter Mallory's The Sport of Rowing: Two Centuries of Competition, a four-volume, 2500 page work. He just presented the latest two chapters, both of which focus on Parker yesterday on the website row2k.
Chapter 100: Parker vs. Rosenberg, focuses on the rivalry between two American powerhouse coaches. Mallory, using quotes from newspapers and rowing experts at the time, describes Harvard’s races against Vesper at Hunter Island Lagoon in 1964 and Henley in 1965. The Vesper boat club of Pennsylvania, under Coach Allen Rosenberg, beat Harvard to advance in the Olympic trials.
After this, clearly upset, Parker regrouped his eight men into a team of four who competed and won in the 1964 trials to represent the U.S. in the Olympic games.
At the Olympics, Parker studied and took note of the winning crews and international techniques to improve his squad. His crews began using English style oars, which are stiffer and sharper when cutting through water. He also analyzed leg, arm, and back use, as well as stroking techniques.
Parker’s work did not go unnoticed: Joe Burk, Parker’s mentor, called the 1965 team “the greatest American crew there has ever been, college or club.” Sports Illustrated named Harvard the world’s best.
Still, the Crimson club kept falling short of winning against Rosenberg’s Vesper crew. Author Mallory states that even after over forty years, Parker still remembers the rivalry between Rosenberg and himself.
Chapter 101: The Evolution of Harry Parker, looks into the development of Parker and Harvard crew.
Parker was no newbie to rowing; he was a member of Penn’s fastest eight and had competed in the Olympics as a single rower.
Parker’s coaching techniques, including slow paces to get the form of stroking correct, improved his team’s focus and skill in the 60s. After Parker took charge of Crimson crew, the team won Eastern Sprints ever year from 1964-1970.
Since then, Parker, now in his 49th season, has coached 20 undefeated regular seasons and won eight official national titles and eight unofficial titles.
Parker’s experience, both collegiate and international, helped him make Harvard crew internationally competitive.
