UW crew: Same stroke, different folk for 100 years

"The last 200 meters were a blur, with Don Hume bringing the stroke rate up to an unheard of 44, the crowd chanting 'Deutsch-land, Deutsch-land,' and yet it was in the last 200 meters that the United States went from third to first, crossing the line about 10 feet in front of Italy, with Germany third." — Eric Cohen's "The history of Washington rowing."

Will they, 100 years from now, still be talking in reverential terms about rowing at Washington?

"The alumni of rowers will never let it die," Lou Gellerman said. "The bond among Huskies is just too great."

Truthfully, nothing quite binds the University of Washington like its rowing program, which tonight, in the vast space of the Dempsey Indoor facility next to the crew house, will celebrate its first 100 years.

Today's rowers, not just those in the varsity boats, but everyone who shows up daily for the punishing workouts on Lake Washington, will mix tonight with Gellerman and his 1958 crew that beat the Soviets in Moscow.

In deference to their elders, they'll wear sweaters designed after those worn in the '20s, when Washington first won national championships.

"I've got to get some film for this," said John Lorton, a senior from Seattle.

They'll mix, too, with rowers from the '70s, who beat the Brits at Henley, and rowers from the '90s, who swept the Intercollegiate Rowing Association.

They'll look for Bob Moch, coxswain of the Washington eight that turned back the world, winning the 1936 Olympic gold medal for the U.S. right under Hitler's mustache.

Said Eric Cohen, a varsity cox in the late '70s and early '80s: "You know what has impressed me equally were the guys in the '60s who didn't have a lot of success but, with things going crazy on campus, were as dedicated as any Huskies."

Cohen has spent the past couple of years — 1,500 hours — writing a 200-page history of Huskies rowing. He's done it in anonymity and without pay, just like all the rowers around him.

"Rowing is amateur athletics at its best," said Cohen, "and we've got to do all we can to keep it that way."

More than 1,000 former rowers will be at the banquet tonight — tall, slender men and women who in one way or another distinguished themselves.

"The point is that they are brothers and sisters," UW rowing coach Bob Ernst said. "They all understand the pain and hard work that comes from trying to attain excellence."

Gellerman, who announces the football games at Husky Stadium, said, "unlike football, there are no stars in our sport. We blend together. We do it for each other."

"In today's me-first generation, that makes rowing different."

Reluctantly, Cohen picked the five greatest UW crews: the 1936 Olympic champions, the 1958 crew that won in Moscow, the 1977 crew that won at Henley, the 1983 women's crew that won the national championship by two lengths, and the 1997 women's crew that won the first NCAA-sanctioned championship.

"It's really not right to pick out teams or individuals," Cohen said. "The people who've made the Washington program are people you've never heard of. Eighty percent of the rowers never race in a varsity or junior-varsity race, and yet they are deeply involved and committed. Many have been asked to be on our Board of Stewards that oversee rowing at Washington."

In 1913, a UW crew first competed in the national championships and finished third. The 1923 crew was the first national champion to come from the West.

Fame escaped a few by fortune or by a few feet.

The 1940 UW varsity dominated American rowing and likely would have been in the Olympics had Hitler not invaded Europe, which canceled the games.

In 1948, the Huskies won the collegiate championship, only to barely lose to California in the Olympic trials. Cal won the gold at London and five of the Husky JVs — Gordon Giovanelli, Bob Will, Bob Martin, Warren Westlund and Allen Morgan — combined to win a gold medal in the four with coxswain.

Even the 1958 crew had to scheme its way out of NCAA probation — caused by the football program — to make history. In 1957, it was limited by sanctions to two races — against Cal and Stanford.

"But nobody quit," Gellerman said. "We were proud Washington rowers."

After going undefeated again in 1958, but banned from the national championship, they raised money to go to Henley. They lost to the Soviet team from Leningrad only to be invited for a match race in Moscow.

This was the first athletic or cultural exchange between the two countries during the Cold War. Shockingly, the Huskies won by more than a boat length.

The desire to keep rowing going at Washington was so great that shortly after World War I — when Cal was about to give up the sport — the Huskies sent their assistant coach, Ky Ebright, down to revive the program. He ended up winning three gold medals there.

"Our sport is about performance," Ernst said. "It's not made for TV. Nobody cares how many people came to watch. Those who do it never forget it."

Tonight they won't.

Blaine Newnham: 206-464-2364 or bnewnham@seattletimes.com