I have known Ted Nash since first meeting him in July 1961, at the National Rowing Regatta in Philadelphia. Two years later, in 1963, Ted, Ed Lickiss and I worked together successfully to form the National Women’s Rowing Association to promote women’s rowing and gain entry into the Olympic Games for women rowers.
Over the years, our paths crossed a lot as we both worked as rowing coaches in Philadelphia along Boathouse Row and at the University of Pennsylvania. I will always remember him as a dedicated coach, an Olympic athlete, and someone I greatly admired until he passed away in 2021.
The recent allegations about Ted’s past, dating back to 1963 and reported this week in The New York Times, are deeply disturbing. The allegations, involving the sexual abuse of a 13-year-old child, are abhorrent. I fully support the U.S. Rowing Association’s investigation into the matter, and would like to state emphatically that sexual abuse of any kind is clearly wrong and intolerable.
I can only add, however, that these allegations do not reflect the Ted Nash I knew. I have only good things to say about the athlete and coach I worked with, and his contributions to rowing.