Feb. 15, 2005

By Leo Strupczewski '06

PHILADELPHIA -

Amidst the cold, rainy weather of an early spring day outside of Syracuse, NY in 1959, 40 young rowers were faced with a perplexing situation- their bus, with a rowing shell strapped to the top and equipment piled inside, was stuck in the middle of a cornfield.

They had just begun to recover from a long day on Lake Onondaga, rowing against Syracuse University-a program of mythical proportions. Now, the bus sat in mud, silent except for the hum of the idling engine and the steady rain beating against its frame. With their coach already on his way home to attend to business, the rowers split into two groups.

The sleepers, and the pushers.

The sleepers, living up to their names, welcomed the placating sounds from outside, as they rested their weary bodies.

The pushers did the opposite. Battling pelting rain and freezing temperatures, a number of the rowers struggled to drive the bus out of the mud. Sliding through slop and slime, the pushers powered their way back to the departed road.

This was the beginning of Saint Joseph's Rowing.

"When I heard the story the next day," said Al Rosenberg, the coach, "I put all the pushers in the same boat, and all the sleepers in another."

"The pushers were outstanding. They saw a challenge, and accepted it. They were the best boat we had all year."

That group never stopped pushing.

A few months later, they led the Hawks to a Silver medal at the Dad Vail Regatta. It was a historic accomplishment at a historic competition for a program with no history. The team, then in its infancy, has only witnessed one Saint Joseph's crew best their accomplishment-the 1970 Varsity 8 captured gold.

The program, working from the shadows of a basketball-first school, has produced some of the most well conditioned, successful international athletes. A number of graduates have represented the program at the international level, and the outcome always seems to be golden.

Rosenberg took the U.S. Olympic 8 to Tokyo in 1964, winning gold. Mike Teti '78, the current U.S. National Team coach and 2004 FISA Coach of the Year, recently led his Heavyweight 8 to Olympic Gold in Athens. A 12-time national team member himself, Teti also guided the Heavyweight 8 to an unprecedented three consecutive World Titles from 1997-1999. The two are the only coaches to guide the Olympic team to Gold since 1956.

Donald and Richard Flanigan '60, who were two of Rosenberg's pushers, were invited to row for the 1964 Olympic team. They declined-both were committed to medical school. Nonetheless, the brothers have remained a dominant pairing in international regattas. Since returning to the sport, the brothers have captured over 40 U.S. and World Championships at the Masters level.

The reason for this success, says Rosenberg, is the school's Jesuit heritage.

"The Jesuits require a lot more discipline than other schools. They are demanding academically, and religiously," said Rosenberg. "Religion gives you strength and devotion, and rowing requires discipline."

Today, things are no different.

For Head Coach Drew Hill '74, success is measured far beyond what happens on the water. Entering his third year, the coach is equally concerned with his athletes' experience at Saint Joseph's.

Success "is also measured by the overall caliber of the student-athlete that we attract," said Hill. "We track GPAs. We track the type of person we have on the team. They are important-not just the success of the team, but the overall experience."

"It depends on how you look at it," said Hill when he discussed the school's academic requirements. "Our curriculum can be viewed as a disadvantage. Many of the schools that we compete against at our level have a far easier curriculum. It's easier to get kids in and everything else. Our curriculum is very demanding compared to many of the schools we race against on a daily basis. By the same token, it helps to develop that curriculum of commitment. It helps to develop the character of the kid overall."

The program, whose growth was stunted by inadequate facilities and lack

of interest, is shining with potential. With the addition of the $3 million Robert Gillin, Jr. Boathouse, which opened in 2003, the Hawks are legit. Hill will no longer wait for gold.

Since arriving, he has seen the program grow in prestige and numbers. His first year, the team had 32 rowers-the exact amount necessary for four boats. Everybody had a seat in a boat. It was a necessity.

"If a rower was sick one day," Hill said, "one boat didn't row. There just weren't enough kids to fill the seats."

Now, there are too many. With training having already started for the spring season, the team has 55 rowers. Hill plans to row five 8s and two 4s. That's 48 seats. Somehow, somewhere, people will be without a spot.

"My freshman year, there were just enough guys," said Junior coxswain Charlie Koob. "Now, there are more guys than seats available. Everybody has to fight for a seat-no one is protected. It makes the guys practice harder everyday, because you know there is someone right behind you who wants it just as bad."

Koob, who has coxed the Varsity 8 since freshman year, says rowing at a smaller school like Saint Joseph's makes his job easier.

"I know everybody better," said Koob. "I can relate to them on a personal level, I know what makes them tick. I know what level they're rowing at, if they're going their hardest or not. Knowing guys makes it much easier to motivate them."

"They have all the tools necessary to compete," said Teti, who follows his alma mater despite his demanding schedule. "If you're given everything, it's time to step up to the plate. They've entered a 'what have you done for me lately' business. There are no excuses."

So far, the program has exceeded the expectations.

Since rowing under the tutelage of Hill and the roof of the Boathouse, the Hawks have amassed three gold medals, one silver, and two bronze medals at Dad Vails. In 2003, the team captured the Dad Vail Men's Point Trophy, and finished second in 2004. The team has also qualified three boats for IRA's-the collegiate level's most competitive race-each of the past two seasons. Last year, the Varsity 4 finished fourth in the Grand Final-a major milestone for the program.

Their recent performance seems to validate the boathouse, a building Hill raves about.

"The boathouse has been a big, big asset for us," said Hill. "It has totally enhanced the experience for the guys on the team. It's a point of pride. It's something of which they can be very proud. It's one more positive reason why they should strive to step up. It has made the program go to another level."

Confirming Hill's views, Rosenberg says the boathouse should be a sense of motivation. "The program should match the building," he said. "The measure of success doesn't come from the boathouse, but from what is on the water. If you do that, you can hold your head high."

This fall, Hill took his team to the Princeton Chase, an invite-only race historically reserved for nation's elite crews. To just get a foot in the door, to be in the same arena as the Ivy League programs will reward itself.

"It was a great experience," Hill said of The Chase. "We've found our Freshman 8 over the past two years were honestly among the top ten crews in the country. But, when we got to IRAs, because they hadn't had the opportunity to race against that level of competition before, we choked. We were intimidated by our competition. I remember two years ago, we were even with Harvard at the halfway point of the race, and the coxswain announced, 'We're even with Harvard!' and from there everything went straight to hell, because the kids were thinking, 'Oh my God, we're racing Harvard and we're right there with them."

"So, getting the opportunity to race against Harvard, Princeton, Yale, and Navy at the Princeton Chase is a great opportunity for the program. It will put us in a better position for when we see those teams in championship regattas."

The team has also been helped by the commitment and focus of their most talented rowers, as well. Sophomore Adrian Gherca rowed on

the U.S. Junior National Team, while a few others were invited to try out. Koob has been a coxswain at Penn AC, a top-tier rowing club, for the past two summers, and coxed their Elite 4 at the Worlds Trials this past summer.

"Getting that caliber person on the team helps in a lot of different ways," said Hill. "It helps with the level of commitment in practice, in the erg room. The leadership they provide is really an important quality."

Koob says the experience makes everyone better.

"The guys at Penn AC have a lot of knowledge-they're really professionals. Just by talking to them, it rubs off on me. They row with the correct technique, and all I really have to worry about is motivation and helping them through the race. When I bring that stuff back to school, it gives the guys a different aspect. It makes everybody better, because they're getting stuff from all different areas."

All this added confidence and experience continues to push the Hawks closer to their goals of being national contenders, and they're getting close.

"We honestly expect to win several 8s this year at Dad Vails- something Saint Joseph's has never done before- and we have a legitimate shot," Hill said. "Moving on to the national stage honestly could happen in the next three years. It's really an old boys club, and it's going to take some time to crack it. Getting to race at Princeton was the first step. That group has been rowing against each other for 100 years, and they're not going let St Joe's in to one of those races just like that. It's going to take some time to break in to that."

With a program built on the relentless pursuit of pushing forward, it shouldn't be very difficult for Saint Joseph's to break into that upper echelon of collegiate rowing.