Oars de Combat

Don't be misled by the blazers and the wonderful sociability of the affair. This isn't punting on the Thames, it's the Henley Royal Regatta, the world class of rowing. And the gentleman standing in the launch about to depart for the starting line last summer at the 150 th Regatta is W.Hart Perry Jr.'55.

Over a lifetime Hart Perry has been an important figure in rowing, but the jewel in his crown was being named a steward at the Henley in 1974, the first and only American—and first non-Commonwealth person—so honored.

Hart rowed at Dartmouth and he coached at Dartmouth, both as an undergraduate and alumnus—and is an officer of Friends of Dartmouth Rowing and a member of the College's Rowing Hall of Fame. He still coaches—at the Kent School in Connecticut—and finds time to be chairman of the National Rowing Foundation and a member of the New England Interscholastic Rowing Association. He's a past president of both the U.S. Rowing Association and the Rowing Coaches of America and serves on numerous committees, including women's rowing and junior rowing. He was an official at the 1984 Olympics and is a life member of England's Leander Club.

Along with Hart Perry, there was a Dartmouth team at Henley last July, one of 60 from the United States and the sixth Green entry during the eighties. Led by new crew coach Larry Gluckman, the team joined in celebrating the 150 th anniversary of the sport's most prestigious event, but didn't advance past the first round. Gluckman himself won a Henley event in 1973, the Prince Philip Cup, with a four-man-plus-cox team of Northeastern University alumni. And he coached the Princeton team that was a Grand Challenge finalist there in 1985. It won't be easy, but maybe Coach Gluckman will find a new Hart Perry in the group he's training for this year's Henley.