Alumni Spotlight: Dave Worley

DAVE WORLEY Dave Worley in second seat at IRAs, 2006

A NOTE FROM THE EDITOR

Ihad always heard of Dave Worley as a prominent figure in WSU crew history. He was part of the 4+ that placed 5th at the IRA in 2006; the longtime WSU 2k erg record holder; a transfer to the University of Washington; and a U.S National Team rower. His story was one that had my attention early on. I was lucky enough to connect with Dave in late September to find out more about his path through rowing, starting in Pullman, and reaching up to near the highest level of the sport. I hope you find this interview as fascinating as I do. - David Herrick ‘14

David Herrick: When did you row for WSU? 2004 - 2006 H: How did you get into rowing? What made it appealing?

The fact that someone at the rec said I would be good at it. Danny Brevick said “you should show up, you’re tall, you would be good at it”. My mom is English and wanted me to do it freshman year but I wanted to sleep in, so I didn’t start until my junior year.

H: When did it sink in that you might have a talent for the sport?

Not until I did the pair camp at UW. You’re always in an 8 otherwise so it’s hard to tell. I had decent erg scores but nothing nationally ranked. The pair kind of revealed that.

H: You were part of a strong 4+ that went to the IRA. What was that like? Any significant memories from that season or regatta?

Absolutely, lots from that regatta. We did have a good four. What I remember most is the boat we rowed in Pullman was the worst, you couldn’t set it, the margin

was so narrow, and the riggers were awful. We borrowed a new Pocock for the IRA, wing riggers, bow coxed, and it was like rowing on rails. Which of course only made me hate the other boat more [laughs].

Also, in our heat our strokeman’s rigger, his oarlock, came undone, so he couldn’t row the second half of the race, and we still managed fifth. We won our rep, and did well enough in the semi to make the final. I think the best race we had was our semi. We were a little gassed by the final.

I also remember we really wanted to beat Gonzaga, and they did one place better than we did, so we were kind of pissed. You know how it is.

H: You eventually transferred to Washington, how did that come about?

I did the pair camp over the summer; I stayed with Pete Brevick and his family. I was beating these UW guys, and I was thinking “they should want me to row here” and I wasn’t aware of this, but there was a rule that coaches couldn’t recruit other collegiate athletes. So, the coaches never spoke about it.

Anyways, I got back to Pullman, and I think I was in class for about three weeks, and a UW guy who I rowed with texted me saying “it’s a shame you didn’t row here”, I responded “yeah, I absolutely would have come, but Bob (Ernst) never said anything”. Turns out he runs down to the boathouse and talks to the coach. I got a call about 45 minutes later from Bob saying “I hear you want to transfer?” I said “yeah yeah, for sure”. He told me he wanted me there by Saturday, it was Thursday then. So, I dropped all my classes, packed up my stuff in a Uhaul, and was there that weekend. It worked out but I had to take 400 level classes all year to graduate.

H: What was that year like? Were the guys welcoming or did you have to earn your place first?

I wouldn’t say they were super welcoming at the beginning, you had to earn respect first, but I certainly didn’t have any problems. UW to WSU there’s a rivalry, but not exactly in rowing, they’re more focused on Cal. There were a few little hiccups in terms of politics and how they set the boats in the fall, I didn’t understand those sorts of things. All I was doing was trying to row fast. But there was nothing where I felt concerned. Once you’re in the boat with everyone you build that comradery. We had a lucky situation (that spring) where our top 8 guys were clearly the top 8, and the JV

was the JV, so there wasn’t quite as much inner-squad competition, which made it less stressful on everyone. It gave us time to work together and improve.

It also helped that almost every row for the first six months I was there I would have said “that was the best row I’ve ever had” and it just kept getting better from there.

H: Looking back, can you describe a typical day for a husky rower?

Probably not much different than a Wazzu rower. We didn’t have to get up quite as early in the spring. But compared to the other guys my day was different. Normally we did M/W/F morning and then M-F in the afternoon. Then single practice Tu/Thur in the afternoon, which would be an erg and a row, or weights and an erg. I got paired up with a guy who couldn’t row certain days, so I was rowing two-a-days every day in a lot of small boats which helped a ton, especially against guys who had been rowing since middle school. The Saturday practices were nice because you would come back in, watch some video, have coffee or a bagel, then go back out and do some technical stuff.

There was a lot of inner squad racing too, so a ton of racing all season long.

H: You finished your collegiate career as a National Champion in the Husky Varsity 8+, what was that experience like? Was there confidence going in or did it catch you by surprise?

DAVE WORLEY Dave Worley rowing four seat at Head of the Charles, 2007

I’d say somewhere in the middle. We had an undefeated season up to that point so we had some confidence. We were feeling pretty good, but there’s always a little doubt like “are we really that fast?”

I remember vividly Steve Gladstone (Head Coach of Cal at the time) was giving an interview between semi’s and finals and someone asked “who do you think is going to win?” and he said “Well if Washington isn’t down by open water at 500m to go, they’re going to win” so that was great to hear. The final wasn’t the hardest the race but it was still tough.

H: Which was the hardest race?

W: The Cal dual, the rivalry is so fierce. Plus, it was 400m. I think I washed out a stroke 300 in and that fueled me for the next 1k. Once you get out of the wind though it turns to glass.

H: Did you do any rowing after college?

Yeah, I rowed for the U.S team for 2 years, I was in the Olympic selection group for Beijing. They selected 14 guys (for the 8+, 4-, and 2-), and I was part of the unfortunate 6 who didn’t get selected. I had mixed feelings about that; it wasn’t nearly as fun as college. I trained another year after that in Seattle but eventually decided it was time to move on.

H: Did you compete internationally?

At UW, we did a fun race in Moscow, Russia, and were in the marquee event against the British, Italians, Russians, and French as the U.S entry. There was a lot of prize money that of course we couldn’t accept as collegiate athletes. It was a long head race that we In Seattle that year which is always a mess in the first

eventually won by like 30”. I don’t think they sent their best boats.

H: Last question, but an important one. During the Apple Cup, who are you rooting for?

Oh man, I was at Wazzu for four years, I was UW for one, I always root for Wazzu. There’s a huge difference in school spirit, the UW kids go home on the weekends and do their laundry at their parent’s house.

Thanks for taking the time Dave, and, of course, Go Cougs!

@WSU_CougarCrew

PULLHARD THE

@wsucougarcrew WSU Men’s Crew