The very first race, before the formation of the Dad Vail Rowing Association, was held in 1934, hosted by coach Rusty Callow and the University of Pennsylvania. Callow created a trophy as the competition prize and named it after Harry Emerson â??Dadâ? Vail in honor of his many years of coaching at the University of Wisconsin, Madison.
In response to a letter asking him why he gave this name to the original trophy, Callow replied: â??Dad Vail was a lovable character, entirely devoid of secretiveness or slyness, and with a great sense of natural humor. I recall one year observing that he was going up one side of the river in his coaching launch, and across the river, about half a mile away, rowed his Wisconsin crews. So I asked him: â??Dad, why do your crews go up one side of the river and you in your launch up the other? Your lads canâ??t hear anything you may say.â?? He replied, â??You know, Rusty, Iâ??ve found out through experience that the farther off they are, the better they look.â?? That was Dad Vail.â?