Boathouse Attracts Olympic Hopefuls

Freshmen are not the only new faces at Newell Boathouse this fall. About 15 experienced rowers--some affiliated with Harvard--are also making their way down to the boathouse on the Charles for daily workouts.

In the short run, this 15-man group of Harvard graduates and other serious rowers is training for the Head of the Charles Regatta. In the long run, they are eyeing a far more ambitious goal--the 1980 Olympics.

All They Need

"Most of the best talent in the country will be in this boathouse this winter and spring, if they aren't here already," Peter Raymond, varsity lightweight coach, said yesterday.

Raymond said the hopeful Olympians are probably working out at Newell because the Olympic Rowing Committee (ORC) will probably ask Harvard heavyweight coach Harry Parker to coach the U.S. men's eight next July in the 1980 Olympics.

For a lot of oarsmen, especially those who live in the Boston area, that is all they need to know before they flock to Newell Boathouse.

However, Parker said yesterday he is offering the Boston rowers nothing more than a place to train.

That's All

"Some guys are just coming down to work out, that's all," he said.

Despite Parker's hesitation, many prospective Olympic oarsmen expect Parker will soon be their coach.

"The facilities are great here, and Harry will give us guidance now and then if we have a problem," Christopher R. Wood '75 said. Wood rowed a quadruple scull for the U.S. team at the World Games in Yugoslavia two weeks ago.

The More the Merrier

"More and more oarsmen should be coming down to the boathouse this fall," Richard M. Cashin '75, a silver medalist at the Pan American Games this summer, said yesterday. "Some of them will be coming to practice on the Charles, and others just want Harry to know they are out there."

"In 1972, there were at least 24 men going out in the winter and spring," Raymond said.

He added that "unless something cataclysmic happens" before long Parker will spend more time with each athlete. "Harry did this before in 1972 with the men's eights, and he'll do it again," he said.

The oarsmen are intending to do most of their training at times that do not interfere with the undergraduate Harvard teams.