The History Of Harvard Sports

July 4, 1959, stands as the greatest date in the history of the Harvard crew. On that day, the Crimson heavy and light-weight shells culminated undefeated seasons by winning championships in Britain's Royal Henley Regatta.

Harvard crews had been undefeated in the past and three Crimson heavy-weight contingents had won at Henley--in 1914, 1939, and 1950. But never before had a tame combined the two achievements, and never before had the light-weights been in London together with the heavies.

Glamorously, it was the last year in the coaching career of the late Harvey M. Love, a quietly confident man who died the following winter. "You win for a good coach just as much as you win for yourself," Captain Townsend S. Swayze '59 recalled yesterday, "and we were happy to make Harvey's last year so successful."

"The Moose"

The spuad's strength lay in a nucleus of three seniors: Swayze, coxswain Barrows Peale '59, and a colorful muscleman named James Christopher Adams MeClennen '59--"the Moose."

The potential of the team was first manifested on May 2, when the Crimson left Princeton two lengths behind and set a Charles River (1 3/4 miles) record of 8:45.0.

Two weeks later, in the Eastern Sprints, the dramatic highlight of the regular season occurred.

In the finals, Harvard was far ahead of the field from the start and seemed to have the race wrapped up. Almost fatally, the crew relaxed. Fortunately, one man didn't.

McClennen, a tempermental three-year letterman who hated to lose, looked over his shoulder and saw the Syracuse shell coming up fast. He hollered a warning, and in one stroke the Crimson accelerated.

Syracuse's Orangemen were in the race until the finish, but Harvard held on to win by eight feet. It was the closest race of the year.

Pressure

There was a lot of pressure on the Crimson to win the June 13 Yale race. Yale had won the last five races, and another Eli victory would even the series record at 47-47.

Moreover, the entire crew was aware that a victory over Yale could very well mean a trip to London. There was a lot of talk of Henley because that June was the 45th reunion of Harvard's 1914 crew, the first American boat to win the British classic.

As it turned out, the race was a breeze. "We rowed the race well, exactly as Harvey had programmed it," Swayze said. Harvard took the lead from the beginning, increased it steadily and won by two lengths to complete the unexpected undefeated season.

A few days later the Crimson was asked to represent the United States in the Pan-American Games. Swayed by Henley's glamor, Swayze and the team decided to forego the Pan-Ams. (Syracuse went instead, and won the gold medal.)

Fashion Show

On June 22, a 28-man contingent of the two crews flew to London.

The Henleys are one of London's classiest fashion shows. Thousands line the Thames, their bonnets, banners, and banter the heightening the race's attraction.

Competing for the Thames Challenge Cup, the light-weights had no trouble disposing of their first four opponents. Led by Captain Mark Hoffman '59 (fourth seat) and coached by Larry Coolidge, the lights had won each of their five races in the U.S. and proved far superior to their Henley competitors.

The heavies had to defeat only two opponents to make the finals.

"It was fun rowing on the Thames," Swayze recalled. "Harvey had some problems coaching us, though; he had to ride a bicycle along the crowded towpath on the riverside. The team's only problem was the Thames' queen swans and British officials who usually put us on edge with their picayunish observances of lining-up procedures."

On the opening day of the Grand Challenge Cup, Harvard's heavies easily defeated the London Rowing Club. The next day, July 3, the Crimson faced its toughest challenge--in the Isis Boat Club, representing Oxford. The inspired Americans won by a length.

Anticlimax

And then it was July 4, as if the British had planned it that way. Harvard's opponent was the Thames Rowing Club, an all-star team of former collegiate rowers. But the race turned out to be anti-climatic, as the precise Crimson machine methodically outdistanced its opponent and won by 2 3/4 lengths.

An hour later, the light-weights won the Thames Challenge Cup trouncing the University of London representatives by 2 1/2 lengths.

Harvard crew has never had another year like it, but 1968 may offer the opportunity. It is an Olympic year, and the Crimson has a powerful team. Swayze, who, incidentally, rowed for the victorious Oxford crew in the Oxford-Cambridge race on the Thames in 1960, said simply:

"Harry Parker is an exceptional coach. If any college team can be the U.S. representative in Mexico City and win the gold medal, Harvard can."