While rummaging around for my old Henley Programmes, I found a September 1962 letter from Gary Zwart, a letter written to all of the returning oarsmen on the Varsity Lightweight Squad. It is Gary's assessment of our Henley experience, and also includes a quote from Head Coach Jack Frailey.  I decided that the best way to end this series of letters was with our coaches' points of view. (I came across this letter after I had written most of this memoir. I admit to being quite relieved that Gary’s and Jack's comments were reasonably consistent with my recollection of these same events.) 

At the fall banquet of MIT’s Athletic Association, each member of the Henley Crew was awarded the Straight T, MIT’s highest recognition for athletic performance.  It was a fitting close to a memorable 1962 season.

I will close with just a few comments about the 1963 rowing season. As I have tried to emphasize throughout these letters, the great 1962 squad reestablished MIT's winning tradition in Lightweight Rowing. It fell to the 1963 Lightweights to build on that tradition, and build on it they did, becoming the winningest crew in the history of MIT Rowing.

It was not at all apparent when we left Henley that this would be the case. All four oarsmen on the starboard side of the Henley Crew graduated in 1962, and Steve Richards, our #2 oarsman on the port side, would not return to MIT in the fall for academic reasons. With only three returning oarsmen from the '62 Varsity Eight, there was every indication that 1963 would be a year of rebuilding.

However, such a conclusion would be superficial at best. Lined up behind the '62 Varsity Eight was a Junior Varsity and a 3rd Boat that were packed with talent. In addition, another class of freshmen under Coach Dick Resch had placed second in the 1962 Sprints. While we were away at Henley, Senior Mike Greata, Junior Pete Staecker and Sophomore John Proctor must have spent the entire summer conditioning themselves for the upcoming season. Rick Metzinger, Henley spare and now a Senior, was in tiptop shape from his summer of rowing at Dartmouth and Henley. Lastly, we convinced "light" heavyweight oarsman Ron Cheek that he should drop about fifteen pounds and join the Lightweights. Coupled with our three returning Henley veterans, Mark Barron, Dennis Buss and Herb Herrmann, we knew by early Spring that the 1963 season was going to be a memorable one.

An earlier letter in this series emphasized that the 1962 season had been a struggle early on, but we improved each and every week, peaking just in time for the Eastern Sprints, The 1963 season was quite different. We won every single one of our regular season races, most by margins of victory that were just astounding.

Unfortunately the story does not have a happy ending. At the 1963 Eastern Sprints, Cornell edged us by the slimmest of margins (0.4 seconds).  The next closest crew, Harvard, was twelve seconds behind, but—to their great credit—Cornell denied us our dream of a return trip to Henley.

For the entire five race season, we were victorious over a total of fifteen crews, losing to just one. After graduation we once again trained with our heavyweight colleagues at Dartmouth before entering the American Henley Regatta at Saratoga Springs, NY. We entered three separate events there, winning all three. The American Henley added a bit of icing on the cake to our 15-1 regular season record which, as I said earlier, was the best in the annals of MIT Rowing.

I'll close with a few words about the 1963 Biglin Bowl, our annual three-way race with Dartmouth and our perennial nemesis, Harvard. You will recall that we had lost this regular season race to Harvard in 1962 before beating them at the Sprints. The 1963 Lightweights needed to prove the '62 Sprints victory was no fluke. And prove it we did. Here is a photo of our three length win, besting Harvard by twelve seconds.

Several times in this memoir I have mentioned the tradition whereby the winners bring home the shirts of the losers. Another timeless tradition—how could I forget—is that the oarsmen of the victorious crew toss their coxswain into the river immediately after returning to the dock. In 1963, MIT's Lightweights had many opportunities to practice this ritual, but never was it performed with such gusto as after the Biglin Bowl.   I am quite certain that no coxswain has ever been tossed any higher or any further—or into icier water—than I was tossed on that memorable day in April 1963.

Because of the three-way tie at 1962 Sprints, we had received only three Harvard shirts, not nearly enough to go around. After the 1963 Biglin Bowl, we brought home a full complement of nine shirts; our Junior Varsity, also victorious, nine more.  Here are the 1963 Biglin Bowl victors, back home in Cambridge. From left to right in the back row are Mark Barron '64, Herb Herrmann '64, Pete Staecker '64, Ron Cheek '63, Dennis Buss '63, Rick Metzinger '63, John Proctor '65 and Mike Greata '63. Kneeling in the front row is yours truly, Bob Vernon '63.

For those of you who stayed with me throughout the entire "Henley Memoir," thank you very much. I hope you enjoyed the ride. That's it for now!!