From left: Dan Barrow and Jack Kelly Sr.
When “The Boys in the Boat” was chosen for the 2017 Community Read, a strong local connection to the 1936 Berlin Olympics was unknown. That soon changed when Walpole resident Kathleen Flory began telling folks about her father, Dan Barrow, and his quest for rowing gold in those very games.
Her father competed in the single scull and met the University of Washington boys who were competing in the eight-man crew event. Under the tutelage of Jack Kelly Sr., Grace Kelly’s father, himself a three-time Olympic gold medal winner in rowing, Barrow took up the sport while at West Catholic Preparatory High School in Philadelphia. Upon graduation he became part of the Penn A.C.’s “Big Eight.”
According to a 2015 article in the Philadelphia Inquirer, “between 1929 and 1931, the Big Eight won every one of its 31 races, none more significant than the 1930 European Championships in Liege, Belgium, when the Americans won a 2,000-meter qualifying race in 5 minutes, 18.8 seconds. Eighty-five years later, that record still stands, though it is difficult to assess races over time with variables such as wind and water conditions.” The Big Eight also won the final race in this championship, which no American eight had ever done before.
In 1931, the Big Eight split up. Barrow went on to win national championships in doubles and singles and represented the U.S. in singles at the 1936 Olympics, winning the bronze medal. His daughter has loaned some of his memorabilia to the Community Read Olympics exhibit at The Carpenter’s Boat Shop. Also on view are several George Pocock oars. Pocock figures prominently in the book as the builder of sculls, including the one used by the boys in 1936.
There is another local connection, though not as direct as Barrow’s. Ellie Logan, from Boothbay Harbor, is a three-time Olympic gold medal winner in the women’s eight-oar crew, having won in Beijing, London, and Rio de Janeiro — the first American rower to win gold in three consecutive Olympics. Her family still resides in Boothbay. She and her husband live near Seattle and are expecting their first child.
It was hoped that Logan could make a personal appearance at the Community Read, but that was not possible. However, there is a live interview of her from Princeton University done this past Memorial Day when she was attending the national championships. The video is also part of The Carpenter’s Boat Shop exhibit that is open to the public free of charge Monday-Saturday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. through Tuesday, Aug. 1.
