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Richard A. Glendon
&
1920 Navy
Olympic Crew
By Susan Saint Sing © 2004
The following slides contain many photos of previously unpublished and
unrecorded glimpses of Glendon’s life. The notes are written in his hand, and
the photos and family genealogy are graciously provided by Duncan Glendon and
Wayne Geehan.
Richard A. Glendon
Richard Alfred Glendon Family
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Richard Alfred Glendon (father of the Navy coach, Dick
Glendon) was from the West Coast of Ireland
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He left Ireland and briefly settled in Canada where he
married Alice McNulty in 1860
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They moved from St. John’s, New Brunswick and went to
Harwich, Mass
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They had five children: Thomas, Mary, Richard A. (Coach of
Navy), Alice, and John
Dick Glendon, born in 1870, Harwich, MA
Married Mary Winn
They had seven children – In order of birth: Richard John, Mary
Marguerite, Alice Theresa, Thomas Alfred, Hubert, Charles Francis, Kathleen
"Rose"
They lived in Chatham, MA, on Cape Cod
Dick Glendon, died 8 July 1957 at Hyannis Hospital on Cape Cod
Richard J. coached the Plebe crew at the Naval Academy and briefly
coached the varsity. Richard and Hubert coached the bulk of their careers at
Columbia. Hugh coached the Lightweights.
Richard J. was killed in a hunting accident 12/21/1937 in Chatham at
Christmas and his son, Thomas A. Glendon along with Thomas’ school friend,
were lost at sea when duck hunting in 1938 at Chatham, in November.
The three coaches: Richard J, Richard "Dick"
A, and Hubert Glendon
Richard A. "Dick" Glendon
- Known as "Old Dick", "The Old Man", and "Pop"
- Beloved, respected
- Enjoyed a popular rivalry in the press with his sons
- Master craftsman of the American Orthodox Rowing Stroke
- Born in Harwich, Mass. - son of a fisherman
- Went to sea on a mackerel schooner
- Left fishing and began coaching at the Boston Athletic Association on
the Charles River
- At 18, Boston Globe in 1892 declares him the nation’s youngest
professional coach
He coached Noble Academy crew
Considered "advanced", "different"
Coached Navy from 1904-1923, stepped aside to give his son Richard a
chance at Navy
Coached Columbia as did sons Hubert and Richard
Returned to Navy in 1927, retired 1931
The Crew
Navy had a long history of rowing, as rowing was considered
one of the greatest of the military arts and is one of the oldest forms of naval
transportation. In 1896, trailing second to Britain in sea power, the American
novelist,and midshipman/rower, Winston Churchill, declared that the US Naval
Academy should, "Rule the world in oaring" and so, Navy crew set its sights on
beating Britannia, the mightiest naval presence on earth, by symbolically
ruling the seas through oaring. Glendon, combined an American boat, oars,
stroke, and men to form an All-American effort. This is significantly different
from other US eights, such as Harvard, who occasionally beat English crews
previous to 1920, but who prided themselves in rowing a predominately English
Orthodox stroke, coached mainly by English schooled coaches, and sometimes in
English boats.
U.S. Naval Academy Varsity Season
1919-1920
Over mainly straight courses of a mile and
5/16ths
1919
- Defeated Penn
- Defeated Harvard and Princeton
- Defeated Syracuse
- Navy won American Henley
1920
- Defeated Harvard, Columbia, Univ. Pennsylvania
- Syracuse defeated Navy
- Won Child’s Cup at American Henley
- Defeated Syracuse and won the Olympic trials
1920 Child’s Cup - Navy, an invited guest, won prestigious
American Henley
(They transported their boats on submarine chasers to the Port of Philadelphia)
Navy won Olympic trials at Lake Quinsigamond, Worcester,
MA -- leaves Syracuse behind
The Olympic Experience
Olympic trip to Belgium - Newport, London, Belgium aboard
the USS Frederick
The Navy crew, symbolic of the Nation’s hopes to beat the British, were
transported in high style while the other Olympic athletes were transported on
infested transport ships
Olympic athletes training along with Navy Crew
on Narragansett machines beside covered shells
Port of Antwerp
Olympic Stadium
Navy marching in Olympic Stadium
Boathouse
The Navy 1920 Olympic Crew
(The press considered it an "All
American Crew" because the men were from across the US)
- Bow - V. Jacomini, Pasadena Cal.
- No.2 - E.D.Graves, Capt.,Washington, DC
- No.3 - W. Jordan, Cleveland, Ohio
- No.4 - E.P. Moore, Ringgold, Virginia
- No.5 - A.R. Sanborn, Jefferson, Wisconsin
- No.6 - J. Johnston, Albany, New York
- No.7 - V.J. Gallagher, Brooklyn, New York
- Stroke - Clyde King, Grinnell, Iowa
- Coxswain - S.R. Clark, Baltimore, Maryland
V. Jacomini
W. Jordan
E.P. Moore
A.R. Sanborn
J. Johnston
V.J.
Gallagher
Stroke-Clyde King
Captain "Eddie" Graves
Coxswain - S.R. Clark
The Race Course
Launching
The Competition
Great Britain’s Leander Crew
E.D. Horsfall(past Olympic gold medalist), G.O. Nickalls, R.S. Lucas,
W.E.C. James, J.A. Campbell, S. Earl, R.S. Shrove, Rev. S.E. Swann (past
Olympic gold medalist), cox - R.T. Johnstone
- Rowed English Orthodox Style
- Leander Club is located on the Royal Henley Regatta Course-colors
pink and white, mascot-hippo
- Olympic Gold, 1908 Henley
- Set world record of 6.10 in a heat at the 1912 Stockholm Olympics
- Considered one of the greatest, undefeated in 1920, until the Games
- Navy beat Belgium in the heats and France by five lengths in the
semis
- Leander beat Switzerland in the heats and Norway in the semis.
- Navy
and Leander meet in the finals at 5pm Sunday August 29
Navy defeating Leander for Gold Medal
"Cox Clark goes overbaord"
Joy in the streets
Belgian Newspaper from 1920 showing
Kelly, Kelly and Costello in the double,
the Swiss coxed-four and Navy eight
- Richard Glendon receiving the 1920 Olympic medals
- Notice he is standing on the platform numbered "1"
- Note in upper left reads, "Uncle Richard"
American Olympic Committee Certificate
Admiral Nimitz, "To Dick Glendon with best wishes and warmest
regards"
Nimitz - Fleet Admiral, stroke 1905
Signing of the Japanese Surrender (on deck, notice the ship in the
background) USS Missouri, Tokyo Bay, September 2, 1945
Nimitz, "To Dick Glendon old friend of long standing - the best
crew coach the Navy ever had-best wishes and warmest regards"
CW Nimitz, Fleet Admiral (Chester)
Nimitz is reported to have said: Dick Glendon, by what he put into
successive generation of Navy midshipmen, undoubtedly helped us win the
naval battles of WWI and WWII
To Dick from Doug with fond recollections of many years of
friendship and deep appreciation of your wonderful record as "Coach of Navy
Crew 1920-1922, World Champions, National Champions, and twice
Intercollegiate Champions during my tour as Athletic Director US Naval
Academy. Your co-operation was only exceeded by your success."
Doug Howard
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Dick Glendon coached Navy for 2 more years. He tried retirement and
cranberry farming. Returned to rowing to coach Columbia, briefly, turned
Columbia back over to Hubert and Rick Jr., and then back to Navy in 1927
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