Bob Ernst – Varsity Women

Coaching the women’s crew has been very exciting! We are roughly halfway through Fall Quarter and the Head of the Lake Regatta is next Sunday. I continue to see a steady improvement in the speed of our pairs, a quantum leap in the teams’ general fitness, and the teams’ intensity level is that of a group that really wants to impress!

I am pleasantly surprised by the level of talent on the crew. The Juniors and Seniors are setting a high standard and the rookies are chasing them with abandon. The women completed two challenging ten kilometer (40 – 45 minutes in length) ergometer pieces this quarter One test was held on the first Saturday of practice and the second one month later. Every woman on the team showed great improvement. This is truly outstanding!

Our first and only Fall regatta is the Head of the Lake and the competition should be formidable. Traditionally the Husky women have dominated at the Head of the Lake, and we are looking at this milestone as a measure of our Fall development.

This season we are fortunate to have an outstanding staff to work with the women’s crew. Erica Schwab is back to coach the Novice and spearhead our recruiting. Colin Sykes will be assisting me with the varsity women, and we have two dynamic, young interns, Marsa Daniel and Katherine Lortie, who will be helping Erica with the Novice. Katie Gardner is our new Director of Crew Operations and Melissa Beausoleil is back as our Trainer. This combination of experience and enthusiasm will most certainly lead to terrific performances by our crews.

I am sure we will have many exciting accomplishments to report this season. Stay tuned!

Bob Ernst

For more rowing images, please CLICK HERE

Michael Callahan – Varsity Men

We are thrilled to have concluded one of the finest years in Washington’s history. I believe this is a direct result of our focus on recruiting, developing and supporting the most talented student athletes in the world, and from the support of you – the Washington Rowing community.

It is a good time of year to reflect upon all the sources of our success: parents, alumni, friends and the University of Washington. It starts with the parents who so reliably and unconditionally support the student athletes and the program, but it includes a broad community of alumni and friends who, increasingly, are giving us the financial basis to compete at the top.

University of Washington President Mark Emmert, Athletic Director Todd Turner, and Associate Executive AD Jeff Compher have demonstrated full commitment to our student athletes. We have unparalleled commitment from a wide variety of faculty and staff that have helped our students graduate on time and face the challenges in life that await them after college. Many others such as tutors, training room assistants and media relations people support our students on a one-on-one basis, and they make the difference between being good and being champions. Thank you to all of you.

After every strategic discussion comes a need to identify the means. The top three expenditures categories are scholarships, equipment and regatta costs including travel. Matt Minas, Class of 1992, best summed up our strategy when he stated, “I want to help the team row in boats they dream of rowing in, and race in regattas they dream of racing in.” It is this commitment and attitude from our supporters that will keep the University of Washington at the head of collegiate rowing in the United States.

I am looking forward to discussing our hopes and needs with all of our rowing alumni and friends as the opportunity occurs. I plan to meet with the Stewards on November 15 th to discuss the strategy, priorities and outlook for the team.

Michael Callahn

For more rowing images, please CLICK HERE

Luke McGee – Freshmen Men

The opening day of classes marked the first visit down to the Conibear Shellhouse for the Gruntie Class of 2011. Approximately 85 athletes walked down to the introductory meeting held in the Windermere Cup Dining Room. Speeches by Michael, me and Olympic Gold Medalist and former Assistant Coach Bryan Volpenhein helped the freshmen understand the opportunities available to them by joining the University of Washington Men’s Crew Team. Our efforts paid off when over 70 athletes returned to the first official practice the following day.

The guys started off by learning how to row on the ergometers, and how to place the boats into the water. The ergs clanked and the Pocock 8’s shuffled in and out of the Shellhouse as guys learned new rowing language such as hands-on, high waist and way enough. After two hours of rowing and moving equipment, the freshmen took their annual dip in the waters of Lake Washington for the Gruntie Swim Test (see picture). The new Grunties survived their Husky baptism and now have their first official Washington Crew story.

Day two brought about their first official row with the white oars of Washington. The Raney and Kelly Battalion Pocock hulls were skillfully placed into the water and readied to make way. Even without major, over the head, boat stopping crabs, it took us well over an hour to complete one lap around Union Bay. Regardless, all of the guys were excited to get out on the water for their first row and nearly all of them were hooked on coming back for more.

Since those early strokes, the training has ramped up in intensity and the team has been trimmed down to the final roster. We now carry 34 Grunties, with 28 oarsmen and 6 coxswains. The team is gaining an intimate knowledge of Husky Stadium this fall as the guys begin to build their leg strength and endurance by running the stadium steps of the lower bowl. And we have ventured well beyond Union Bay as the rows have steadily built in length and intensity. The early signs indicate a solid Gruntie class. This is no doubt a result of Michael and Bob’s hard work with last year’s recruiting efforts and your commitment in helping us bring the top young rowers to the University of Washington. We have a good mix of local talent, out-of-state recruits and excited walk-ons, with each group bringing a unique quality to the team. I am excited about the team I have to work with this year and look forward to watching them take large steps forward as oarsmen.

This is my first Gruntie campaign as the Freshmen Coach at Washington, and the freshmen and I have a great tradition to uphold. We have a lot of hard work in front of us but the level of intensity and determination that we bring to practice on a daily basis will decide our level of success in the spring. It will be a fun process and I invite you all to be a part of it as these Grunties mature from young pups to powerful Huskies.

Erica Schwab – Novice Women

Fall is always the busiest time around the boathouse. On the first Saturday of the school year there were more than two hundred and fifty athletes meeting for practice - all in the same room. It was an incredible sight!

Now, as we approach the end of fall, things are starting to calm down and move in a predictable rhythm. The novice women’s squad began with one hundred and twenty five first year rowers. After being pelted by rain and battered by the brutal wind and weather we had this October, only the strongest survived. We are now down to a squad of just over four eights. These athletes are mostly local Washingtonians, but we have several, as usual, from California, Oregon and British Columbia. Some hail from as far away as Kansas, Arizona, New Mexico and Alaska.

We started out the first few days in typical fashion, learning how to carry oars, rowing in the barge, and then quickly moving to the eights. The combination of experienced high school rowers and talented “walk on” athletes is already starting to form the novice team into something special.

The training at this point is primarily on the water, perfecting pause drill at body over. In addition, the team has done several timed runs to get ready for the Turkey Trot on November 16 th. They are also spending two days a week working with our strength trainer from the weight room. She is a former UW pole-vaulter, Ashley Wildhaber, who is helping them gain overall strength and balance, and emphasizing full-body exercises that will keep them from walking around with a list to port or starboard. She has even taught us a new trick of walking up the upper bleachers of the stadium. I didn’t think it sounded challenging enough for rowers either, and then I tried it. Ouch, my legs shook for an hour; it is quite brutal.

I also have some great help this year with my volunteer coaches. Marsa Daniel is a ’01 graduate from Western Washington who finished her Master’s from Smith College recently. Catherine Lortie is a ’03 graduate from Washington State University. They have already made an incredible impact on the team.

The class of 2011 is a fun group and we’ve come along way in the short time we’ve been together this fall. The attitude of the boathouse is energetic and contagious; it’s going to be a great year to be a Husky. We look forward to seeing you at the races.

Erica Schwab
Novice Women Training
On the Water

Rough Water – The Film

Next year marks the fiftieth anniversary of the 1958 crew’s magnificent win over the Russians in Moscow. It was the first Cold War competition behind the Iron Curtain for any American team so it became not just a notable race but one that signaled new relations between the two countries.

Legendary sportscaster Keith Jackson, then of KOMO-TV, covered the team through the season and on to the Henley Royal Regatta, and he was there for the final match race in Moscow. After a lifetime “up close and personal” in sports, Jackson still calls the race his most memorable sporting event.

Hollywood producer Lenny O’Donnell, a former Husky oarsman himself, and his business partner Craig Olson, never forgot the story and decided to produce a documentary on the event for international distribution.

Lenny and Craig have filmed present day interviews with both Husky and Russian competitors and they were in Moscow last summer to film the Huskies winning effort in Moscow. They have access to archival footage from sources around the world and will shoot original footage in high-definition, film-quality video. They promise the film will have the drama and emotional appeal of the film classic, Chariots of Fire, and that it will include groundbreaking (waterbreaking?) photography both on board our modern shells and below the surface.

Keith Jackson
The opening ceremonies on the Khimki Reservoir
Huskies in Moscow 2007

Annual Appeal

The Annual Appeal is 45 days into its four month run and contributions have begun to arrive. If you haven’t sent your check yet, select the form at the end of the newsletter, print it and fill it out, and send it to the address on the form.

We won’t repeat the appeal message from last month but we want to remind you that the need for your contribution is critical. Stretch this year and help keep the Huskies on top.

Name _____________________________________________________ Class ________

Address ___________________________________________________ Apt __________

City __________________________________________ State _______ Zip __________

Email Address _________________________________ Phone ____________________

This year I want to support Husky Crew in the following ways:

Current Budget Gifts

Contingency Reserves $_________________

Men’s Scholarships $_________________

Endowment Gifts

Stewards Scholarship Endowment $_________________

Osterhaug Endowment (Women’s Scholarships) $_________________

Other Endowment:_______________________ $_________________

Total Gift Enclosed $_________________

Enclosed is my check for $__________ made payable to Husky Crew.

or …

Credit card type___________ Credit card number________________________________

Signature _______________________________ Card expiration date _______________

______ Call me, Bob. I want to discuss an endowed gift, a bequest, or an equipment gift

Select and print this donation form and send it with your donation to Bob Ernst, the University of Washington, P.O. Box 354070, Seattle, WA 98195.

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2007 – 2008 Crew Calendar

The 2007-2008 year is scheduled and it’s going to be busy. Mark your calendar today for the racing and related event days Alumni events are highlighted in bold type.