THE SPORT OF ROWING “But what was needed on the Schuylkill that day was a long, high start at around 40 and then never come down because, with the raging current, the race was going to be over in less than five minutes. Penn knew this, but I was stroking and I didn’t figure it out until it was too late and we were open water behind. “Hugh is correct. Penn won that race, but it was my fault. I take nothing away from them, though. They also beat us at the IRA.”5944 Walter Updegrave, 1972 Penn stroke: “Calvin is absolutely right that the Schuylkill was a raging torrent the day of the Burk Cup. Tree branches and other debris were clocking 1:30 500-meter splits. “It’s also true that we at Penn knew it would be an extremely fast race; in fact, I remember Ted telling us it would be over in no time. So we did tailor our race plan somewhat to the conditions. I went off the line at about 48 strokes a minute, and I doubt we ever settled below 36. As I recall, we won by about two seconds or so in a time of 5:31+, which was a record (albeit flood- abetted) that stood for many years. “That said, it’s not as if our Burk Cup strategy was radically different from what we normally did. We were always a high- stroking crew. We used these Pocock oars with long thin blades – we called them ‘Nash specials’ – and Ted specifically trained us to row high with them. For example, the race plan Ted gave us for the ‘72 IRA final was to go off the line at our usual 44-46, settle for a bit, see where we were, and then alternate 20 at 40, 25 at base the rest of the way down the course . . . which is pretty much what we did, although I think with all the excitement of the final, our 20s were higher than 40 and our 25s were sometimes close to that rating. As Hugh says, the race was over at the 1,000 meter mark. 5944 Coffey, personal conversation, 2007 Ted Nash Cartoonist John Hooten’s take on this period “After the race, I remember walking by one of the Northeastern guys who called out to me, ‘Hey, Updestroke!’ “I got a kick out of that.”5945 Stevenson: “Harry Parker is a rowing phenomenon, plain and simple, but he had company, and he knows it. I weary of the constant hagiography of all things Harry. “If one is known for the quality of one’s opponents, then Harry is deservedly well known partly due to the University of Pennsylvania during the late 1960s and early 1970s! “In those days, Pennsylvania could easily stand together with Harvard at the summit of American rowing, and Ted Nash deserves to be recognized for his unique 5945 Updegrave, personal correspondence, 2010 1670
