Harvard Coach Harry Parker Through the Years ...

Eight official national championships. Eight more unofficial national championships. Twenty-seven Eastern Sprints titles in the varsity eight, and 21 in the second varsity. Twenty-one undefeated dual seasons.

Harry Parker is unquestionably a winner. But the statistics are only the tip of the iceberg.

They don’t tell the full story of the man who forever changed rowing at Harvard and across North America. His influence can be seen across the continent in the way crews train and compete, and it can be felt just as profoundly in the lives of his former rowers.

Parker’s story is one of curiosity, creativity, courage, and commitment. The water is merely his medium. For non-rowers and lifelong veterans alike, there is much to be learned from this coaching legend.

BORN INNOVATOR

Parker first became interested in coaching during his undergraduate years at the University of Pennsylvania, where he rowed in the two seat of the varsity eight after joining the team as a walk-on.

“I became quite close with the then rowing coach, Joe Burk,” he explained. “We did a lot of talking about various aspects of the coaching, and it really intrigued me.”

So Parker, who had already enlisted in the Navy, applied to coach at the U.S. Naval Academy. He didn’t get the job, but the seed had been planted.

Parker’s shot would come soon enough. While he was in the Navy, he was also training to race the single in the 1959 Olympics and 1960 Pan American Games. While racing in England, he became connected to the school he’d call his for a half-century.

“We went to Henley, and I got talking to the then-Harvard coach, and it turns out about a year later they were looking for somebody, and I got it,” he said. “There you go.”

Parker’s days as an assistant coach came to an end when head coach Harvey Love died suddenly of a heart attack. As has now become school legend, Parker took over the program as interim head coach in 1963.

After the team posted uninspiring performances in the dual season and at Eastern Sprints, Parker took the time between Sprints and Harvard-Yale to refocus on the fundamentals.

When the Crimson shocked the favored Bulldogs with a come-from-behind victory, Harvard immediately named Parker head coach, and the Crimson rose to prominence quickly.

Harvard took the Eastern Sprints title every year from 1964 to 1970. Parker’s 1968 varsity eight beat out Burk’s Penn crew for the right to represent the U.S. at the Mexico City Olympics.

It was the last collegiate crew ever to represent the U.S. in the Olympic eight.

While Parker started coaching in the style of his old mentor, Joe Burk, a trip to Europe would soon change rowing on the Charles—and in North America—forever.

“I got curious right away with what was going on not just in US intercollegiate rowing but internationally because there was a big big change that took place in the late 50s and early 60s in Europe,” he recalled.

Parker was particularly intrigued by the rise of the Karl Adam’s Ratzeburg crews from West Germany.

“There was a big change in technique, in equipment, in training, and I think it’s no exaggeration to call it a revolution in the way that it affected rowing,” he said. “I was intrigued by that, and so I began to look for things that they were doing that I could incorporate into my coaching, and quite frankly I’ve continued to do that ever since.”

Some of these changes were in the kinds of equipment that his crews used; Harvard started importing English oars and various European boats, from the Swiss Staempflis used in the 1960s to the empachers used by today’s varsity crews.

Parker was also the first American coach to employ interval training, another idea pioneered by Adam.

But it would be unfair to call Parker’s style simply an American adaptation of Adam’s. Parker has continued to study the sport long after his trip to Germany.

“He’s always studying, thinking, probing, and he’s always been good at the mechanics and science of boats, rigging, and training,” Dick Cashin ’75 said in an e-mail.

“There have been various moments when things have been very stable with few changes, but overall [I’m] continuing to change as I see and learn things that are a little different—and maybe a little bit better,” Parker added.

A MAN OF FEW WORDS?

“I have to say, the myth of me not having too much to say is not very accurate,” Parker asserted.

Actually, Parker has plenty to say. He just doesn’t waste his words.

“Whatever Harry said, it was law,” said Henrik Rummel ’09, who rowed under Parker for four years and is currently training with the U.S. national team. “It’s kind of unique. There was never any questioning of Harry. It was very clear cut that everyone was on board.”

And Parker never needs to raise his voice to get his point across.

“I’m not a yeller or a screamer or a shouter or abusive,” he said. “My coaching style is basically, you know, coaching people, if you will, to get it right, encouraging them when they do. I tend not to be critical when they don’t or negative. I think it’s fair to say my coaching style is positive reinforcement.”

Parker also eschews the traditional pre-race pep talk for much briefer words of wisdom.

“Nothing is more powerful than when a coach comes up to you before your final race and says ‘All you have to do is keep doing what you’ve always been doing,’” Malcolm Howard ‘05 reminisced.

Parker was even more succinct with Cashin. Also a Crimson squash player, Cashin rowed in the “Rude and Smooth” crews of 1974 and 1975. The crews which went undefeated against collegiate competition to win the “unofficial national championship” and defeated the U.S. National team en route to finishing second to the British National team at the Henley Royal Regatta.

Cashin and classmate Al Shealy also won the World Championships in 1974 and competed in the 1976 Olympics.

“In ’74, we were in Seattle to race a Washington crew full of national team members, and we were tired at the end of a tough trip where we had to go to the limit to beat Wisconsin twice the week before—we hadn’t lost in two years, and only once in four years,” Cashin wrote. “The night before, we’re falling asleep … Harry walks in and stands by the window looking out for a couple minutes at the Lake Washington in the distance.Rick, Al and I look at each other. Harry turns to walk out and as he’s leaving, he says ‘Race day.’ We just lay there saying ‘Race day? Is that it? Is that the pep talk? Is that all there is?’”

It was enough.

EQUAL OPPORTUNITY

They say it’s not the size of the dog in the fight, it’s the size of the fight in the dog. Not everyone in the athletic world believes that, but Parker does.

A smaller heavyweight himself, Parker was nonetheless able to be highly successful in the single, which he trained for while he was serving in the Navy. He won gold at the 1959 Pan-American games and took fifth in the 1960 Olympics in Rome.

Perhaps because of his own success, Parker has always been willing to give smaller rowers a chance to succeed.

“I’m relatively small,” Kip McDaniel '04 explained. “I’m 6’1”; I raced at 185 pounds. I thank my stars [for Parker’s coaching]. Under other coaches I wouldn’t have the same opportunities. I think he saw in me similar qualities [to him]. I had a great opportunity that I don’t think I would have had at other programs.”

Parker’s faith in McDaniel paid off. The small heavyweight stroked the first varsity eight to back-to-back undefeated seasons and national championships in his junior and senior years.

Parker also doesn’t stress uniformity in the same way other coaches do.

“Harry is good at using what you have,” Cashin wrote. “He doesn’t change people to row a standard way-He just works the blade work and gets you using what you can do a little better.”

Parker’s egalitarian nature is not limited to talented rowers of different sizes and stroke styles. He is also eager to work with rowers of different ability levels.

“He’ll spend time with everyone,” captain Mike DiSanto said. “He’ll treat them just the same on and off the water.”

Parker’s concern with the performance of the whole team has paid off. Just last year, every single Crimson eight went undefeated during the dual season.

“From the bottom up, the bottom guy in the team pushes the guy ahead of him,” DiSanto said. “You have guys pushing each other all the way ... everyone down there just wants to win. Everyone just wants to give their best. He has installed that in our program.”

TOUGHNESS

“If Harvard is tied with you at the thousand, you can damn well be sure you’re going to lose to them at the finish,” McDaniel said.

All of Parker’s innovations in technique and training would have been for naught had his crews lacked the toughness to compete.

But luckily for the Crimson, Harry’s mental toughness and his ability to find it in his rowers are among his greatest strengths.

“I’ve been coached by many people,” said McDaniel, who rowed on the Canadian national team from 2005 to 2008. “The mental toughness he instills in his athletes is unparalleled."

One beneficiary was Howard.

“When I got to Harvard, I was a talented rower,” he said. “But I don’t think I was a very good racer.”

“Malcolm was always a phenomenal physical specimen,” recalled McDaniel, who raced against Howard in high school. “But I was able to beat him.”

But that changed when Howard got to Harvard.

“A lot of what I learned from Harry was how to race,” Howard said. “He gives you that fire inside of that makes you want to go out and win … and I thought each season and each year under Harry, I became a better racer.”

Howard’s three straight undefeated seasons with the Crimson and 2008 Olympic gold medal would certainly suggest so.

COURAGE

All rowers are competitive, but even the toughest of oarsmen say that Parker’s desire and willpower are unique.

“He would always jump right in and compete with us,” Peter Lowe ‘74 remembered. “He would go over to the stadium; he’d play soccer with us when it got too windy.”

“The guy was really amazing,” Shealy added. “It was a really phenomenal sight. He just would not want to be beaten. He would almost kill himself in some of these alternative training methods. Our jaws were slack most of the time watching him compete.”

The games didn’t stop when the rowers graduated.

“After we graduated, a number of us stayed in touch,” Lowe said. “We continued to compete with him in running or road races or cross country ski races or now on the golf course. His oarsmen loved to compete against him ... his intensity and focus and concentration were inspirational.”

Recently, Parker has had to apply his willpower to matters more severe than sport. Earlier this year, he was diagnosed with myelodysplastic syndrome, a type of blood cancer. The first clue that something was amiss was a kidney infection, which was first noticed at this year’s Eastern Sprints.

Perhaps it’s the years in the Navy, perhaps it’s his miles in the single, or perhaps it’s because he’s taken sport so seriously for so long, but Parker has been able to approach his cancer as if it were another big race.

“I’ve never seen anyone approach cancer with such toughness,” McDaniel said. “The character traits that he likes in rowers--persistence, stubbornness--he’s using them to deal with the hurdle well. I’ve never seen anyone approach it in the same way.”

FATHER FIGURE

“I think anybody who’s rowed for him has a special relationship with him,” Shealy said. “He’s kind of like a second father ... The guy’s an amazing coach, an amazing human being. We were all very fortunate to have intersected each other’s lives.”

Parker’s dedication and character have inspired legions of rowers to want to win for him.

“You wanted to perform for the guy, to make him satisfied,” Shealy said. “It really was about the Harvard tradition, about appeasing the gods, and doing the best you could for the man.”

DiSanto felt similarly this summer when his crew took silver in at the IRA national championships. It was the first time the Crimson 1V had medalled since 2007, but DiSanto had been hoping to give his mentor more.

“He’s kind of gotten us to not just want to row for ourselves,” DiSanto added. “When I got off the water at IRAs, I didn’t really feel bad for myself. I felt that I had let him down. I think he was very proud of us, but all of us wanted to win that one for him.”

AN ENDURING LEGACY

Not even cancer can keep Harvard’s most successful coach from the boathouse.

“He just wanted to be around us every day,” DiSanto said. “He wasn’t going to let a kidney infection or leukemia keep him from getting to the boathouse every day and coaching. He could’ve taken time off last year. That’s what most people would’ve done. I don’t think he wants to. He just loves coming down to the boathouse and coaching. We love having him there.”

Parker has made it clear that he has no intention of leaving coaching.

“It’s so fun,” he said. “I still enjoy the coaching, I enjoy the challenges, developing each squad and seeing if we can come up with fast crews. It’s not a question that comes up for me. It just seems like the natural thing to do.”

But someday, whether soon or in the far-off future, Parker will no longer be head coach at Newell. But his influence will remain for years to come.

“On the wall in Newell there’s a poster that says ‘Harry Parker, Head Coach 1963-[infinity]’” junior Josh Hicks noted in an e-mail. “And it’s true. After 50 years of educating rowers, of schooling them in the virtues of determination and courage, there’s no knowing where his influence stops.”

“His legacy is going to be an edifice,” Shealy added. “He is simply irreplaceable. I suspect that he’s going to stay in that position as long as he can. He has left a trail of accomplishment that is unparalleled. People are going to look up to him, as we all do, and revere him for many decades to come.”

—Staff writer Christina C. McClintock can be reached at ccmcclin@fas.harvard.edu.