NMH Crew : Boys Crew

Alumni

• update for May, 2004

• update for Fall, 2006

Alumni Notes

Olympians Alan Shealy, Tom Howes, Mara Keggi, and John Moore are NMH alumni.  We encourage all former NMH oarsmen and women to share their recollections and comments with us.
 

From John Moore, NMH '83

"I credit the great Coach Hamilton, who introduced me to the sport of Crew in the fall of 1982, for igniting my Crew passion.  I went on to row at Duke and afterwards for the US in the pair with at the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona and the 1991 and 1993 World Championships, finishing midrange in field of 16 countries competing in the event. These days, I continue to row harder and sink faster with my has-been friends and in a single at the Charles and other fall regattas. I'm always on the lookout for NMH rowers, especially erudite historiographers of Andy Anderson's caliber."

From Alex Forden, NMH '02

"So here I am at college during orientation, walking around with some friends and checking out the grounds. Up ahead I see the varsity crew tent set up with an eight sitting out front. The whole crew is sizing kids up as they walk by and trying to pull them in with promises like, “the chicks dig rowers,” or “its really not that hard, just takes time.” Well, I should have known not to wear my Vespoli shirt that day but sure enough, as hard as I tried to be overlooked I got spotted and could not dodge the tent. The coach said nothing the whole time and I got the air that he was all business.  Yeah, well during the first week I confirmed that. Lots of erging on slides, more than 8k each day, and lots and lots of running, sit ups and tank work.  At first I was asking myself what the hell I was doing there, but once I stepped into an eight again, I knew why I was putting myself thru loads of work and practice accompanied by late nights and lots of coffee.  Once we got on the water, I forgot about all the work and labs I had to do and how fast I had to run up the huge hill to catch dinner. The same calming feeling took over and at the end of practice I was shocked to remember that I was really not here to row, but to study and learn. 

"Here's the point though: I would have missed out on a lot if I hadn’t at least tried it and that's what is important. Who knows if I’ll survive the three season sport here, (yes, I mean three seasons, fall, winter, spring), being up squirrely early and doing 10k tests this winter, or the first on water practice in mid-February.  But for now, it takes my mind off the workload and helps to balance out my days of being stuck in hot classrooms, listening to professors lecture. So look for me this fall, have an unbelievable season and remember that every stroke, every recovery counts and to keep focused. Take care and god speed."

From Gabriel Wittman, German exchange student '01

"Since it is probably the final weeks of the Crew season, I have been thinking more and more about the fun time I had Crew for NMH last year.  During the whole year I have been constantly checking on the crew pages about news, victories and losses, new rowers and whatsoever!  And I have to admit that every time I saw the photos of our last years' team, I felt a kind of sadness that I cannot fight with you for a victory anymore. I just wanted to let you know that crew shaped my life somehow. Until last spring, I considered myself to be much more a musician than an athlete. I always thought that I just did not have the physical abilities to do a sport in a successful way. Well, I guess I changed my opinion. Crew really helped me to understand that I could actually achieve things in life that seemed unachievable before...it made me realize that being in shape could be fun. That even me, the guy that had never done any sport in a team, could be part of a group that achieved something, no matter whether they lost or won races. I want to thank you and the whole crew team, especially the people in my boat, for leading me during the season and helping me realize where my abilities lie. I hope that I will soon be able to join a crew team here in Germany since Crew means a lot to me. I wish you and your whole team a successful finish of this years' season and many good seasons in the future."

From Jesse Mayhew, NMH '01

"I was not by any means an athlete when I entered the dock for the first time in the spring of my freshman year. I had given up on sports after fifth grade soccer, and had since then resigned myself to the fact that I just wasn't gifted physically and wasn't competitive.

"More than anything, crew has shaped my life, my habits, my work ethic. It has shaped my body and how I look at it. I encourage anyone who's looked at this beautiful sport and had their curiosity stirred to come give it a try.  I especially encourage those underdogs, who are thinking that there is no way it could be right for them."

From Robert Hermann, NMH '78

"My Crew experience at NMH changed my life in a significant way. I wasn't an athlete or even athletically inclined before I came to Northfield. I was just a tall, scrawny kid from the South. I remember sitting in the dorm talking with a friend who was Crew. I had never heard of the sport before and he told me how he caught a crab and got tossed out of the boat. I thought this was amazing since he was a pretty large guy, varsity swimmer and all. Then he told me how you sit on a seat with wheels facing backwards. It was just so strange that I had to check it out. 

"Well, I ended up getting into the sport and even managed a couple of years on the lightweight national team in 1990 and 1991. We got the bronze in '91 in the ltwt 8+. Crew just turned out to be the sport for me. Where else do you get to sit, go backwards, and do the same motion endlessly!  Where some people found boredom, I found freedom. So, if some skinny non-athlete shows up one day, give 'em an oar. You never know what will blossom from it."

From John Coan, Mount Hermon '71

"During my two years at Hermon I helped out in the fall as manager under Chuck Hamilton. One particularly eventful day I was driving Mr. Hamilton as he coached a scull upriver of our dock. I happened to glance downstream at one of our eights, which was in the river near our dock. It took a few seconds for me to realize what I was seeing. The eight was sinking and guys were in the water. I pointed this out to coach, and he nearly had a conniption trying to get me to make that old outboard motor move our boat a little faster to get to the scene. By the time we arrived the guys had managed to get the stricken eight to the opposite bank of the river. At the end of the day all was OK. Nobody drowned and we managed to rescue the shell, hull gashed out and all.

"Another incident happened to the other manager, Steve Gripe. Coach Hamilton had a propensity to coach standing on the bow of the little outboard runabout. There was nothing for him to hold on to, he just stood up there with his megaphone in hand. Gripe was driving him one day and hit a snag, and he tumbled cleanly overboard into the river. I'm glad I wasn't driving that day.

I enjoyed looking at the NMH crew web site. The pictures on your web site bring back these memories. The river looked then much as it does today. I hope it is less polluted. Good luck to you and your crew guys, and thank them for putting up the web site."

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