Harvard Gymnastics Struggles Without Facilities and Coaching

When Olga Korbut dazzled the world in Munich in 1972, and Nadia Comaneci followed with an enchanting performance in Montreal four years later, North Americans took notice.

Gymnastics is one of those "fastest growing sports in America" we hear so much about. At Harvard, however, the competitive gymnastics program is virtually non-existent.

Three's a Crowd?

Freshman Ken Mendez, together with sophomores Sarah Johnson and Todd Morrison, are the Harvard gymnastics squad. They are not a varsity team, nor a "club." They do not have a coach, and their facilities, buried in the bowels of Hemenway Gym, are limited.

Last weekend the squad traveled to Penn to compete in the Ivy League championships. Mendez and Morrison tied for 11th out of 27 in the floor exercise event, a remarkable result considering their lack of coaching.

Morrison finished 13th overall, and Johnson captured 19th out of 31 in the women's floor exercise, and a respectable 22nd out of 30 in the balance beam.

Yale, which won the men's title, has a full-time coach and a team of 20 women and 20 men.

"There are many gymnasts steered away from applying to Harvard, even some who would normally come here," Johnson said yesterday. Yale's freshman sensation Clay Moltz, who won the men's overall title, did not apply to Harvard, Johnson added.

Harvard has a year-round gymnastic recreation program with 30 participants and an instructor, Ron Katen. Katen, who does not coach the three gymnasts, said yesterday he thinks the facilities are fine for recreational purposes but inadequate for competitive training.

"The equipment can be hazardous," Mendez said yesterday. "We have to tumble on strip mats because there are no regulation floor exercise mats. The uneven parallel bars are dangerous and the balance beam is terrible," he added.

Mendez said he feels Harvard has great gymnastic potential but without coaching, that potential will never be realized.

"People cheered really hard for us at the Ivy League meet, because they understood our situation," Johnson said.

Floyd S. Wilson, director of intramural sports and recreation, said yesterday the gymnasts would have to form a club with about 20 to 30 members before they could petition to receive varsity team status.

"With 36 different sports, we have a lot of programs to support. The problem all boils down to money," Wilson said.

Morrison said yesterday he thinks 50 people are interested in joining a gymnastics club. "Some are fairly good gymnasts who lack polish but are potentially good competitors," he said.

Meanwhile, Harvard falls further behind the rest of the Ivy League in gymnastics, despite the phenomenal growth of the sport throughout the country.