Harry Parker coached the Harvard rowing team for 51 years.
Near the end of his life, he said:
To me, sports has been about rowing fast. Sports is about – rowing is about – working hard to develop good rowing technique, to become really effective, and to be fit enough and strong enough so that you can really make the boats go fast. And that’s really what I have focused on, quite frankly. I’ve also just sort of assumed that if there’s something else out there, it’s because of the sport, it’s not because I’ve been preaching it. And I think what I want to tell you tonight is that is the truth. What you think you have gotten from me – in terms of learning perseverance, diligence, good discipline, teamwork, learning to have faith in the people in the boat around you, being trustworthy teammates for the people you’re rowing with – those are things that you’ve learned from rowing. And I am just very happy to have been part of the process.