Harry Vail

Who was Harry Vail?

Harry Emerson "Dad" Vail, was a rowing coach at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, USA. The Dad Vail Regatta, held annually in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is named in his honor.

Harry Emerson Vail was born in Gagtown, New Brunswick, Canada.

His career is traced in his obituary, which was published in the Wisconsin State Journal on October 8, 1928. It read:

Mr. Vail, aged 69, was the oldest crew coach in the U.S. at the time of his death. Jim Ten Eyck of Syracuse was the only one who exceeded "Dad" in age. Coach Vail was "Dad" to every boy who ever worked under him, and he was one of the most beloved figures on the university campus.

Coming to Wisconsin in 1911, Coach Vail almost won the Poughkeepsie title that year. Again in 1924, following a ten-year period in which the University of Wisconsin authorities refused to send the crew east, "Dad" took second, and his praises were sung from one end of the country to the other.

Deeply religious, "Dad" Vail was one of the few coaches taking crews to Poughkeepsie who refused to do any rowing on Sunday.