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Jan
Harville Elected to Husky Hall of Fame
Congratulations Jan! What a
great piece of news you’ve given us to lead off this year’s first
edition of the Husky Crew Newsletter.
On Friday, October 27 at 6 p.m., our own
legendary coach, Jan Harville, will be inducted into the Husky
Hall of Fame at a banquet at Seattle’s Westin Grand Ballroom. This
twenty-fourth edition of the Husky Fever Hall of Fame has a select
group of inductees along with Jan. They include Jim Lambright,
Greg Lewis, Todd MacCulloch, Jody Braden and Aretha Hill.
You can buy tickets online at
www.huskyfever.com but don’t delay. Let’s get a big contingent
of old oars signed up before this event is sold out. |
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The Cycle Begins
Now that Fall quarter has begun
and a new freshman class has found its way down to the Conibear
Shellhouse, all is right on the UW campus. Classes have begun, the
boats are taking to the water, the sophomores are strutting, the
leaves are turning, and the football team is winning.
In all the fundamental elements, this fall is
very likely similar to the days when you were here. The drive to
succeed academically is paramount, of course, but dreams of race wins
and national championships aren’t far behind – beginning with a Husky
return to the Head of the Charles this year.
For the coaches, this is a particularly hopeful
time of year. It is a fresh start; it is the beginning of the annual
cycle; it is the opportunity to search for and develop the absolute
best in each of the athletes under their care. And there is the dream,
too, that runs parallel to those of their athletes: race wins and
national championships.
Bob Ernst said: “This is a great bunch of young
guys. It is an inspiration to coach them.” Eleanor McElvaine agreed,
saying: "An old coaching friend of mine used to describe starting a
new season as similar to starting to paint a new picture on a blank
canvas. I am very excited to use all the things that I learned last
year, along with the great traditions we have at the UW, as the colors
for this year's masterpiece.”
The Husky spirit remains strong, exemplified most
recently by the volunteer time contributed to the program by four
local physicians who gave physicals to the entering freshmen athletes.
Thanks to Dave Slepyan, once a Cornell cox but for years a
visible and active Husky Crew supporter, Mark Burns, father of
U.S. National Team pair oarsman Sam, Erik Branch, now at
the UW Medical School by way of Oxford and, earlier, the Husky
National Championship JV crew in 1997, and Tor Sandzen, a
former member of Stanford’s cross country national championship team
from the athletes and coaching staff. |
For more rowing images, please go to
Husky Crew website. |
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Welcome
Robbie Tenenbaum
Coach Robbie Tenenbaum joined
Eleanor McElvaine’s staff on July 1, 2006, so he already has a head
start on the 2007 recruiting year. He will help the women’s program on
the water, but over this next year he will concentrate on recruiting,
an activity at which he has excelled in prior postings. Robbie has
broad contacts already developed throughout the national and
international rowing world so you can expect great results from him.
Eleanor McElvaine said: “Robbie is going to make
an immediate positive impact on our recruiting. We have worked
together before and brought home gold so I am pleased, to say the
least, that he has joined our coaching family.”
Robbie graduated from Tampa in 1992 and held
coaching positions at Clemson, Florida Tech, Tulsa and Ohio State
where he earned the Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association’s 2006 award
for Assistant Coach of the Year. In addition, he was an assistant
coach for the U.S. Junior National Rowing Team from 1996 through 2001.
In October 2001, he was named head coach for the U.S. Junior National
team. In 2002, his junior women’s eight won bronze in Lithuania and in
2003, his eight won silver at the Junior World Championships in
Athens.
We asked him about the obstacles in recruiting
scholar-athletes to the University. “Are you kidding?” he said. “We’ve
got one of the top universities in the world, the finest rowing
facility, great water, great rowing weather, fantastic support, and
tradition. This should be a no-brainer.”
We like the confidence and the attitude. The next
time you are down at Conibear, introduce yourself to Robbie and
welcome him to the finest collegiate rowing program in the country. |
For more info on NCAA, please go to
www.huskycrew.com |
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Huskies Report In – From Oxford
Ed: We
asked the Huskies who raced in the World Championships this summer to
file reports on their experience. One who did was Ante Kusurin. All
through his years at the University of Washington, this Croatian was a
mainstay in the Husky program. Like so many of his teammates, our 2006
Captain defined – and still defines – the phrase “scholar-athlete.”
When we last checked, he was graduating in Finance with close to a 4.0
GPA, and heading to Wall Street by way of Oxford. Here is his report.
Sorry for writing late. I just got
to Oxford and didn’t have time until now.
Racing at the Worlds was great – very tough but
fun. There were 24 boats in our doubles event. Our first race was
against the Slovenians (Cop and Spik) who were Olympic and World
champions and only one boat would advance. We lost but made it through
the rep to the semis where we raced in the faster group. That third
race was very tough on our bodies. I think we would have made the
finals if we had been in the other semis group. We didn’t but it was a
great experience. We got the official Croatian record for the double
(6:15.27) and a lot of motivation for the Olympics.
It was wonderful to see all the Huskies there and
to have so many friends around. Washington is definitely a world
rowing powerhouse. The U.S. coach, Mike Teti, the Canadian
coaches and even Oxford’s Dan Topolski noticed the Huskies. In
the 8+ I completely lost my voice over Giuseppe (Lanzone) and
(Matt) Deakin. The funniest thing was how sad Giuseppe was
after the race – his first World Cup and already a medal. I told him I
had been to four and still hadn’t medaled, and that calmed him down a
bit.
In the 4+, Robby and the boys did a great job but
I had split feelings about that race. The four young Canadian stars
raced as hard as possible and will continue the legacy of the Huskies
but I had two of my own ‘05’s, Kyle (Larson) and Scott (Gault),
in the U.S. boat. I didn’t know who to cheer for and was silent at the
finish line of that race.
The party after the races was great. We had a
complete disco club reserved for rowers and, again, the Huskies were
the heart of the party. I would send photos but some of them might not
set the best example for the freshmen.
After the worlds, I went to Croatia where I raced
in our Nationals. I got second in the single behind my doubles
partner, won in the 4x and got fourth in the 8+. Now at Oxford, we
start training tomorrow. It will be tough but, after the conditioning
we got at the UW, I don’t think it will be a problem. |
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Huskies Report In – From Eton
Ed: Brett Newlin is no stranger to these pages. And at
6’ 9” and 240 pounds, he is no longer a stranger to the best rowers in
the world. A scholar-athlete like Ante, Brett earned a degree in
Computer Engineering, one of the University of Washington’s most
selective programs and one that ranks at the very top in the world.
Race day breakfast is usually
short and silent. There’s no usual banter of “did you finish the
Sodoku today?” or “how far are you on the crossword?” – both of which
are included in The Independent, a favorite newspaper of the
athletes since the hotel offers it for free. After a light meal of
coffee and bagels I would head to the lobby to sit in quiet
anticipation. Many others do the same as evidenced by the large
gathering of athletes lounging in the lobby chairs with headphones in,
waiting for the bus to the regatta.
The ride to the course is also quiet, half of the
people listening to their music and the other half trying not to get
queasy from the swaying of the double-decker bus. Once at the course,
it’s a repeating conveyor belt of actions from the boat to the
bathroom to the stretching area back to the bathroom. Other events are
already racing and watching them provides a nice reprieve from having
to think about my own. When time gets close, I strip down to the
uniform I am proud to wear and dial in. My teammates and I meet at the
boat, give each other a few nods and words of encouragement, and get
hands on. We’re all business as we walk down the dock. The judges
check our names and equipment and we shove off. The first click of the
oars into the oar locks and the warm-up has begun. It’s on now …
Ed:
Brett added: “The above was written with great difficulty because it
includes a few vocabulary words that seldom enter my daily
conversation.” We are sure he didn’t expect what follows to appear in
these pages but we couldn’t resist. He wrote: “What could more aptly
describe what I felt like on race day would be:”
BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! Uh? (yawn) ugh … slurp, coffee,
mmmm, … oh, man, gotta race, gotta race, gotta race. Oh, we’re here
already … gotta pee, gotta pee, gotta pee. Sttrreeeeeeettcchh. Gotta
pee again … Pick up the boat … put boat in water … get in boat …
ATTENTION! GOOOOOOOO! PULLLLLLLL!!! Done! Who
won? Us? YES! … no, wait … tie? Row again? Oh, man. Satisfied. Tired.
Eat. Sleep.
Moral: When given the option of winning the third
spot in the semi or tying for the third spot, choose the former.
Re-rows make you tired. |
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Huskies Report In – From Princeton
Ed: And finally, there is our 2005 Captain, Kyle
Larson, the 3.5+ G.P.A. graduate who double majored in Architecture
and Construction Management, and who has become a regular
correspondent for your newsletter. Kyle earns our gold for
contributing so much to the program and to these pages.
I think fourth is the worst
possible place to finish. First is better than second, and second
better than third, and fifth over sixth, sixth over seventh, but
fourth is worse than fifth. I was in the 4+ and we got fourth place at
the World Championships in Eton, England. We were .23 seconds from a
medal.
The UW frosh who raced for Canada would be happy
to know that they ruined my day by finishing ahead of us in second
place. .23 seconds will be burned in my brain for the next year. One
foot isn’t very much when there are 6000 of them in a race, but it is
enough to hear “good try,” rather than “good race.” Still, I have no
excuses. Winners say: “We came prepared and expected to win,” while
losers too often say: “There were some problems,” and come up with a
list that doesn’t rewrite the facts. We executed our race plan and
there were no problems; it was a good race, but .23 seconds short of a
medal. I can’t be too discouraged through, because I know that I left
it all on the course. I think that I did the best I could with what I
had, and I was very excited at the opportunity to represent the USA in
the World Championships.
I could not have done it alone. Rowing at the UW
was really what got me here. Credit should be given to Bob Ernst and
the entire Washington Rowing program. Not only have I had the
opportunity to row with some of the best athletes at the UW, but I’ve
gotten some of the best coaching at the best training facility in the
country. The huge contingent of Huskies who raced at the Worlds are
proof of that.
While rowing at the UW, the Dick Erickson
Memorial Scholarship helped pay for school my senior year. I was on a
five year academic program but I was still able to train out of the
new boathouse my fifth year when I had used up my eligibility. When
the Huskies went on their winter training trip, I got to go with them,
and Bob even shared his room (and his birthday) with me.
I am very thankful for the opportunities and
support I’ve been given. Throughout the years, I’ve also had support,
advice, and encouragement on anything that I needed from Husky rowing
supporters, specifically ‘Chief’ Fitzsimons and Mike Hess.
So when I talk about everything I’ve done, it’s not completely true
because I didn’t do anything alone. |
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Homage to the Port Oar – Part Two: Priory of Lie-on
Ed: Last April, you read the first part of this series
which established the primacy of the port oar. As M. D. Benner
(Commodore, 1968) remarked, it was “a thoroughly accurate and
unquestionably factual article.” Still, some readers continued to
question its accuracy, including the writer of the piece which
follows. For unknown reasons, he wishes to remain anonymous, although
it seems unlikely he will succeed. Here is his reply … with apologies
to Dan Brown.
Is there really a difference
between port and starboard rowers?
“Oh my, yes!” say many of the great rowing
coaches in the United States. They confided to this writer that a hoax
has been perpetrated in the rowing community about the skills of a
port oar. It is maintained, they say, by an ultra-secret group of
ex-port oarsmen who belong to the Priory of Lie-on, and who are
entrusted to protect the myth of “God-like” skills on the port side.
Al Erickson uncovered documents dating back to the earliest
rowing coaches at the University of Washington, including several
known to his father and UW rowing coach, Dick Erickson. These
documents reportedly provide irrefutable proof of the hoax.
So why haven’t we heard of the Port Oar Hoax? We
are told that the documents are well protected by Priory members for
fear that exposure will damage port egos and boat builder credibility,
and that these members wield great power in the rowing community and
are feared by all. They are the builders of the modern shells and oars
for rowing.
Our research reveals that Bill Tytus
(Princeton) builder of Pocock Racing shells, Mike Vespoli
(Georgetown) builder of Vespoli Racing Shells, and Dick
Dreissigacker (Brown) builder of Concept II oars and ergs are all
ex-port oarsmen. In a very secretive and creative way, they protect
the Port Oar Hoax by constructing racing shells to veer naturally to
starboard at racing speeds. All shells! And all port oars are built 3
2/3 percent “more lively” than the starboard oars to allow a built-in
performance advantage over their starboard counterparts. These hidden
features, they claim, are needed to keep the racing shells running in
a straight line … else they might run in circles due to the natural
superior rowing skills and performance of the starboard oarsmen.
It is actually sad to see fours racing in a
“German Rigged” setup with the bow and stroke oars on port and the
middle two oars on starboard. Even with the starboard turning bias
built into the oars and hulls, the port oarsmen need leverage
advantage to push the bow to starboard and pull the stern to
starboard. In 1968, rowing a 4- with Bill Tytus and Loren
Coleman from Princeton, we had to move Greg Miller to port
bow, and in 1972 we had to move 6’7” Mike Vespoli to port bow
in our 4+ to keep from running in circles. Our 1970 collegiate
National Champion 8+ from Washington had to install a bull at port
stroke and the superior port oarsman, Greg Millerr, at bow in
our eight. What an embarrassment for the port oar!
This author got first hand proof of this cover-up
when he and Bill Byrdyrd asked George and Stan Pocock
to build a starboard stroked, coxless pair in the late 70’s. They
agreed to build the shell, but with some “modifications”. Ostensibly,
these changes strengthened ribs on the starboard side of the stroke
seat. But secret plans for changes in the running surfaces were
discovered in George’s bench on the second floor of the Pocock shop on
north Lake Union … to remove a portion of the built-in port bias of
the shell.
No one should be surprised that recent studies
covering all reported erg times posted on the Row2K site have revealed
starboard erg scores almost 4.18% lower than port erg scores.
In an effort to maintain the egos and feelings of
self worth of port oars, and to hide 100 years of secondary skills and
performance by them, the Priory encourages and promotes the accolades
and puffery of the port efforts and superhuman achievements. The
Priory of Lie-on is as strong today as when George arrived from
England.
Ed:
Whatever. I suppose we will need a cox or a coach to resolve this
discussion. |
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