Winter solstice is six weeks gone but the polar vortex swept Manhattan into the low teens with a floor of 10F on January 21, so Michelle Phillips’ plaintive cry still resonates. Hence our lead stories: two sunny summaries of the Cougs’ first warm-water winter camp in many a blue moon. But first, a data-centric piece on boat speed from Jim Austin (75), including X-Y graphs.
Next, the rowing observations of Coach Emigh (75): simple but insightful, as always. Then some fun stuff: letters to the editor plus Coach Struckmeyer’s account of his recent five-way coronary bypass. Fun? Well…who else could get a belly laugh out of such forlorn drama and trauma? Say quickly three times in a row: myocardial infarction. (Note: early intervention meant that Ken did not actually have a heart attack, thank goodness.)
Closing with a bang, retired astronomist, splitter of his own cordwood, indefatigable rowing scientist and philosopher, prolific PH reporter Mike Klier (75), remembers the shock of our very first Husky racing shirts, earned on our original (and devilishly tricky) Almota-to-Boyer 2k course in 1974. Also, a snapshot of the DME restoration. Do not miss the URL. The wrap-up: our ever-popular Alumni Notes Dept.
Dear friends! Our annual and most excellent Palouse reunion looms. In 2024, some of our honored speakers went off script and schedule, and the audio was occasionally deafening. CCD organizers have said their mea culpas and sworn blood oaths to the river gods. Never again! This year: The Future of Cougar Crew. Our keynote, Why Rowing is Important, from Olympian-in-waiting Cedar Cunningham (22). Banquet ends 9:00pm, sharp. Plenty of time to party hearty. Shout out your boat mates and organize a rendezvous for old times’ sake. Brian Campbell (98) will find you a fine vessel. All you need to do is transport yourself to Wawawai on March 15. Cougs make no excuses!
—Rich “Flip” Ray (80)
Coda: Katabatic winds
Two miles from Newport Bay, the Santa Ana river empties into the Pacific. January 7, top wind speeds in Newport Beach jumped from 10 to 30 mph, gusting to 50. Next day, the numbers were 40 and 60. The dreaded Santa Ana winds had arrived. With them, and
by drought, weeks of devastating wildfires. At this writing there are 28 confirmed dead and thousands of structures lost, including the Pasadena home of one of our alumni.
Return on Investment Understanding our numbers
Editor’s Note: In the field of History, one of the big developments of the 1960s and 1970s was the birth of Quantitative History, which Wikipedia defines as “a method of historical research that uses quantitative, statistical and computer resources.” This new branch of history was made possible by the development of databases and the growing ability of researchers to access data.
Multi-year ACRA results
Since 2019, our Men’s First Varsity Eight (M1V8+) and Men’s Novice Eight (MN8+) have a documented trail of progressively better finish times. Weather conditions impose a random variable with occasionally dramatic impact, so the rise in performance is never a flawless curve. Case in point: in last year’s ACRA B Finals, our M1V8 battled a headwind. However, the American Collegiate Rowing Association (ACRA) regatta results records show clear, steady improvement in both boat categories. In 2018 we were not ranked by ACRA. In 2022, we were ranked 25th. In 2023, we jumped to 15th. Last spring, at season’s end we reached 10th out of 76 programs under the ACRA umbrella.
2024 Fall racing results
For the past seven years our rowers have participated in the Granite Point Head Races. These races are intra-squad pieces raced in pairs. They provide valuable information about rowing skills and levels of rower endurance. Last fall a new course record was posted. In fact, the previous best time was beaten by several different combinations of rowers during those time trials. This points to growing team depth and the potential for greater team speed.
The Head of the Snake, our first home race of the season, is a dual with Gonzaga. The Bulldogs are a D1 team ranked 25th nationally. Gonzaga arrived at Wawawai with three and a half eights. They were greeted by six and a half eights of WSU men and another eight of WSU women, a nice illustration of our squad’s rapid
growth. On the water, our M2V8 beat the GU M2V8 and were just 14 seconds behind our M1V8, a sign of our growing capacity. A week later both teams raced again, this time at Head of the Spokane. Following Head of the Snake, our M1V8 made lineup changes and sharpened their technique. This produced a 22-second improvement in just seven days, closing the gap with Gonzaga’s M1V8 to 11 seconds, our best showing against the Bulldogs in some time.
Up-curve and flat-line
Head of the Lake (HOTL) was our final contest of 2024. This year we entered four Varsity Men’s 8s. Following the shift in D1 schools, HOTL has discontinued the Novice category. The second graph illustrates the improvement by all four Cougar boats over 2023. For the last three years we have gradually closed finishing margins against top-ranked UW and 25th ranked OSU. Our M1V8 cut more than 6 seconds and the M2V8 cut nearly a minute off their 2023 finish times. These solid improvements contrast sharply with UW and OSU, both of whose year-over-year times were essentially unchanged. Our M3V8 slashed more than a minute off their 2023 time and our M4V8 was 35 seconds faster than our 2023 M3V8’s time. Again, our gains are startling, while UW’s and OSU’s M3V8 and M4V8 had similar or in some cases slower times versus 2023.
We’re in this together
The backing of our alumni is the lifeblood of our program. Your generous financial support has allowed us to hire a second fulltime coach. With Associate and Volunteer coaches assisting, our athletes are now getting the training required to gain speed. Are we getting faster? The numbers don’t lie. A big, sincere thank you to all our alumni and friends!
—Jim Austin (75)
California Dreamin’ 2024–2025 WSU Winter Rowing Camp
Cougar Crew participated in four winter camps during the mid1990s under Head Coach Ernie Iseminger. The first camp was in Seattle, rowing out of the SPU boathouse. Bill Tytus, who had recently (1985) purchased Pocock Racing Shells, attended many of the practices. The team was grateful for the assistance. The following three winters, the team traveled to Honolulu, Hawaii for two weeks of training and racing with schools including Harvard, Stanford, Northeastern, and Kyoto University.
Under Coach Brevick, the team held winter camps in Seattle from 2019 through 2023. They were helpful, but rowing in Seattle in December and January is typically wet and cold. CCAA leadership has for some time encouraged the team to consider a warm water winter camp. This year it happened. Twenty athletes spent six days from December 30 to January 4 training in Newport Beach, California, out of the University of California, Irvine boathouse. Athletes paid for their own transportation and food. A big shout out to Mike Sullivan, head coach at UC Irvine, and the UC Irvine program, for their generous hospitality. They put UC Irvine’s boathouse, docks and coaching launches at our disposal.
Takeoff
Monday, December 30 the team rigged boats, then rowed twice. “Two-a-days” used to be exceptional—an added workload that set us apart. The 2024-2025 Winter Camp started with a two-aday on Monday, then mixed it up, sometimes with a third workout, including cross-training hikes on Wednesday and Friday, and one long row on Saturday.
The most obvious benefit of this adventure is water time. In one week, the crew covered a distance equal to two normal training weeks on the Snake. Off-water time was also focused on building speed, including technical evaluation and coaching in video review sessions. Impossible to quantify, but also very important, the off-hours shared in relaxed company: essential to building team cohesiveness and aligning and focusing competitive energy.
Throughout the week, each athlete rowed in eights, fours, and pairs. Small boat rowing gave everyone instant feedback on individual and team technical progress. Some sessions were of low physical but high technical intensity. Some were a combination. Some featured lower-rate, maximum-intensity contests between closely-matched eights.
Takeaways
Coach Brevick’s main takeaways for the week: skill-building, physiology, and team relations. He felt the team’s technical proficiency was visibly better than what they showed in the fall, with the GPS-measured boat speed to back it up, and he expects the high energy the team built up during the week will be sustained through the racing season. On Friday, the camp peaked with a set of friendly scrimmage pieces that included an eight composed of rowers from other programs also in the area to train. Results were evenly split. The team was happy with its showing.
More athletes attended this camp than any since the 1990s camps, and the gains in performance, according to Coach Brevick, were noticeably greater. There are about 12 weeks from the Head of the Lake Regatta to the February return to the Snake River. Winter camps break that dry spell in half and as a result, both skills and fitness are better maintained. Winter camp, Spring Break and the week after Finals are the three prime opportuni-
ties for training—big blocks of time everyone can fully focus on getting faster. Consensus opinion is, our first warm water winter camp since the 1990s exceeded expectations.
Visitors and Steam Tables
Noteworthy was the minimum hundred years collective rowing experience that appeared one day in the launch. National Team aspirant Tymon Berger (99), National Team member and Coach Peter Mallory (Penn 67), and Emeritus Coach Ernie Iseminger (88) did signal service as Coach Brevick’s impromptu brain trust. Coach Iseminger claims he witnessed some of the most aggressive, intense pieces he has yet seen at a WSU practice, and he was blessed with a moment of eye-watering gratitude as he surveyed the Cougs’ fleet of well-designed, well-built, well-maintained equipment, out for display on UC Irvine’s front lawn. For the athletes, an unexpected sports nutrition bonanza arrived in the shape of dinner at China Super Buffet in nearby Stanton. “…a good selection of seafood and greasy favorites.” Just say All You Can Eat. A feast for the memory books, courtesy Ernie and Alice. Thank you both!
NEWPORT BAY AND CITY OF NEWPORT BEACH FROM APPROXIMATELY 10,000 FEET. PHOTO: D. RAMEY LOGAN (WIKIMEDIA: HTTPS:// TINYURL.COM/2TK5245P)
COACH BREVICK’S BRAIN TRUST: L-R: COACH BREVICK, TYMON BERGER, PETER MALLORY, AND ERNIE ISEMINGER. PHOTO: ERNIE ISEMINGER
DECEMBER 30, 2024. UC IRVINE BOAT HOUSE, NEWPORT BEACH, CA. AFTER THE LONG DRIVE, OFFLOAD THE BOATS AND RE-RIG. PHOTO: ERNIE ISEMINGER
SoCal Winter Camp
One rower’s view
This year, winter camp was in Newport Beach, California. Twenty of us made the trip and most of us stayed in a five-bedroom rental we found on Airbnb, just minutes from UC Irvine’s boathouse. Southern California is, well…Southern California! Glimmering beaches, abundant sunlight, vivid palm trees, and wonderfully clear waters. UC Irvine’s head coach Mike Sullivan gave us a friendly welcome and a tour of their boathouse, much like our own at Wawawai. With two to three practices each day, our technique improved as we worked to rack up as many kilometers as humanly possible. As the week progressed, our hands grew sore and our bodies ached, but the sense of progress kept us motivated. On Friday, we raced several timed pieces with a combo crew of rowers from other teams. The racing was electric, since it had been a while since our last competition at Head of the Lake.
The Pacific was unbelievably calm—some days we actually left Newport Bay and ventured out onto open ocean, rowing as far as we could. There’s something wild about looking out over the bow of the boat and seeing nothing but open water. Some days were foggy, but it would typically lift as the day went on, just in time for sunset to paint the sky. We had dinner together every night. Big thanks to Kyle, Frank, Dylan, and Owen for running the kitchen. Occasionally we took a break from rowing, including a hike through a beautiful meadow and a beach walk on the final evening that gave us a stunning sunset. This winter camp was easily one of the most memorable experiences of my life. What an
opportunity! Visiting Southern California in the middle of winter with my best friends and spending an entire week focused on rowing. The hours of training, the great conversations, the sheer beauty of the place will stay with me for a very long time.
—Austin Cole (26)
ABOVE: CROSS-TRAINING COUGS HIKED THE BUCK GULLEY TRAIL. L-R: NALU BARSANA-SZWCZYK, TROY MUEHLBAUER, LOGAN DAVIS, ZACH SCHULER, ISAAC ASELIN, DYLAN REEVES, KYLE HOLE, OWEN LAUB, NATALIA SWEGLE, EZRA KLINGHOFFER, LYNDA ALVERAZ, ETHAN ALMARAZ, AIDAN KENNEDY, FINNLEY YOUNG, ZACK BRANDT, FRANK CODDINGTON, ROCCO FORTE, COOPER PAGE, AUSTIN COLE, AND EVAN THORNTON. PHOTO: P. BREVICK
In the Year of the Snake
The Lunar Year of the Wood Snake began January 29, 2025. In Chinese culture, the Snake is associated with wisdom, intelligence, intuition and insight.
Wood represents strength, growth, creativity, flexibility, and renewal, adding an openness to change to the Snake’s characteristics. This combination signifies a year of growth, transformation, and adaptability. We are encouraged to reflect on our lives, welcome opportunities, seek wisdom and self-improvement, embrace change, be flexible in our thinking, and strive for a better future. Specifically, 2025 is the year of the Yin-Wood Snake. Yin-Wood is associated with grass, flowers, or vines that can quickly grow and spread. Yin-Wood likes sunshine and can endure strong wind, symbolizing growth, endurance, imagination, innovation, and brainstorming.
DETAILS TICKETS & LODGING:
Cougar Crew Days 2025 March 14–16, Pullman, WA
We’re looking for volunteers!
We need help with:
BOARD MEETING MANAGER
Friday afternoon, Lewis Alumni Centre 1:15–4:15pm
Doug Engle has done this for years and will support you via txt and phone, end to end. You’ll own the event plan
• Thursday: Verify Zoom requirements with Alumni Centre staff.
• Friday: Complete Setup. Start by 11:00am for complete table and chair setup with three-person team.
Allison Keith and Joanne Greene manage the check-in tables. Assistant Greeters help facilitate check-in and minimize bottlenecking. Friday Icebreaker is early check-in. Saturday is final.
• Greeters welcome guests, confirm tickets purchased (or assist with purchase via HandBid), provide name badges and auction paddle numbers.
FRIDAY ICEBREAKER
• Two persons at 3:00 pm to put food out and beverages on ice, and finish other setup if needed.
• Three to four persons to keep serving tables orderly and eating tables picked up.
SATURDAY BANQUET SET UP
Saturday midday/afternoon, perfect for anyone not going to river
• Silent auction and Boathouse swag table set up
• Banquet table decoration
Interested? Email: cougarcrewdays@cougarcrew.com
The Regattas Dave Emigh’s Fall Rowing Observations
It may be a fool’s errand to prognosticate about the coming spring racing season based on a few fall regattas. But I’ll run the risk of playing the fool, so here are a few of my observations.
Fall racing serves three different, related purposes. First, and perhaps most important, it gives novices their initial racing experience. Second, it reminds returning rowers what racing is like and tells them how their training and technical development are progressing. Third, it gives alumni and supporters something to talk about.
It is increasingly apparent Cougar Crew is in the midst of a growth spurt. We have been building toward this growth for a number of years, but it now looks steady, methodical, sustainable. We probably don’t need fall race results to convince us the program is getting stronger and faster. But we do like to talk rowing, so here we go…
GRANITE POINT HEAD RACES
Each year the team begins race prep and selection with a new fall tradition established under Coach Brevick: the Granite Point Head Races. These are intra-squad timed pieces, raced in pairs. The start line is above Granite Point and the finish near Abbey Shellhouse. Several days a week, sometimes twice a day with different partners, the Granite Point races give coaches a clear demonstration of individual rowing skills and show them which athletes are most successful at moving boats.
Coach Peter has run Granite Point Head races all seven years of his tenure. He reports that not only was the all-time best result posted in fall 2024, several different pair combinations beat the previous record. Assuming comparable conditions, those results are a reliable measure of the team’s increasing speed.
HEAD OF THE SNAKE
Friday, October 11, 2024; Wawawai Landing
The Gonzaga Bulldogs rolled down to Wawawai with three and a half eights of oarsmen for the Head of the Snake Regatta. They were welcomed by six and a half eights of WSU men and an eight of WSU club women. This was the first win of the season. WSU has grown to be nearly twice as large as GU.
The second win was when the WSU M2V8 beat the GU M2V8. In almost every collegiate program, second varsity success generally follows first varsity success. It is a sign of a fast-growing program that our M2V8 is showing competitive leadership. Our MV8 and M2V8 were within 14 seconds of each other, another indicator that the program is developing good depth.
Boat lineups for the Head of the Snake were based on ergometer-based measurements of both strength and endurance. This rewarded athletes returning from summer break in good physical condition.
HEAD OF THE LAKE, SUNDAY NOVEMBER 3. M2V8+ IN THE MONTLAKE CUT. FROM THE COXSWAIN’S SEAT: FINLEY LUTHER, OWEN LAUB, ROCCO FORTE, TREY AQUINO, AUSTIN COLE, CHIRON SUSEE, ZACK BRANDT, FINNLEY YOUNG, GARRETT BEARDSLEY. PHOTO: ROW2K
HEAD OF THE SPOKANE
Saturday, October 19, 2024; Gonzaga Shellhouse, Spokane Next up was the Head of the Spokane. WSU made several boating changes based on performance at the Head of the Snake. The MV8 picked up speed during the week by working on ‘matching up’ with each other and by sharpening their technique. These adjustments yielded a 21-second improvement, narrowing the gap between the Cougs and the Bulldogs from 32 seconds on the Snake to 11 seconds on the Spokane.
The club women’s four raced twice in Spokane, each time against varsity crews. They gained great experience that they can take into spring racing.
Head of the Lake organizers use the Regatta Central timing system which provides two intervals, a finish time and finish time margin expressed as a percent of the winning time. WSU has decreased that margin each of the past three years. The exact meaning of such metrics is debatable, but they clearly support what we already know: the Cougs are getting faster.
Dave Arnold wrote: “…incremental gains are positive steps…
the distance between Washington and everyone else is…overwhelming…they have become a powerhouse nonpareil. To make up some ground is good.” We can all agree, without kidding ourselves about Washington or other top-tier IRA crews, now almost exclusively boating elite-level international athletes.
The club women were able to race several club fours. They were competitive with Oregon and beat Seattle University. They built upon previous race experiences and have raced better each week.
There currently is great overlap and fluidity among the oarsmen in each of the boats. That is to say that in each fall eight, there were athletes that might move up a boat or down a boat come spring. This uncertainty characterized all four fall eights. Where athletes end up will depend on how their technique, strength, and endurance improve. While this intense competition is exciting for coaches, it can be tough on the athletes.
As a longtime observer of this team, I am anticipating a challenging spring season that could easily deliver some great surprises.
—Dave Emigh (75)
OCTOBER 11, 2024; WAWAWAI. COUGS AND ZAGS ON THE BREAKWATER WITH THE PAC 12 CREST. GONZAGA HAD JUST JOINED THE CONFERENCE.
Letters to the Editor
Boyer Park to the Paris Games
As I was reading “Boyer Park to the Paris Games,” Steve Small’s account of his son Aaron, the K2 Olympian, in the Summer 2024 Pull Hard, I was startled to realize Aaron’s K2 partner, Jonas Ecker, is the son of E’Lana Williams Ecker, a rower I coached on the varsity program in the early nineties. She was a tough, feisty shorty who actually passed out at Ergomania in Seattle in 1993, if I recall correctly.
E’Lana joined crew because her brother Erron Williams (88) rowed on the men’s side. He was a heavyweight and an avid cyclist.
There’s always a thread—right?!
—Tammy Crawford (85, 07)
Caught in the Cougar-Husky Web
I was amused by “Caught In the Cougar-Husky Web” in the Summer 2024 Pull Hard because rowing has a long history in my family, beginning with my great uncle, Harry John Dutton, bow man in the Huskies’ IRA title-winning crew at Poughkeepsie, New York in 1923. Steve and I were honored to witness that crew’s induction into the Husky Hall of Fame in 1990.
I grew up attending the Head of the Lake and Opening Day regattas in Seattle: a fun, free, family activity. The tradition started with my mom’s youth in Ballard. Her mom (my grandmother), Virginia Dutton Baldwin, had watched her brothers (Harry John and O. Marshall) in action at Montlake in the Roaring Twenties. Grandma Baldwin had high respect for the commitment required of a student rower.
I inherited my interest in the sport, but I never guessed WSU would give me the chance to follow in my great uncle’s footsteps. Arriving in Pullman in Fall 1976, a poster announcing a Women’s Crew Meeting was the beginning of my own rowing history.
My joining Cougar Crew ignited a special reaction from Harry John and fostered a lifelong relationship between us. In those days he lived in California, not far from Redwood Shores, where the 1977 Pac-8
Rowing Championships took place. Tall and distinguished, he came each day to watch me compete. He was a proud and effusive support-
er of Cougar Crew throughout the regatta and took me into the heart of Husky camp to meet his friend and then UW Coach, Dick Erickson. With mischievous delight, Harry John insisted Erickson consent to be photographed with a Cougar oar in hand.
Every visit with Harry John was filled with stories of, and shared affection for, our sport. He was in his early 90s the last time I saw him in Seattle. Wheelchair-bound and nonverbal at that point, when I walked into the room, he smiled broadly and immediately made a repeated rowing-stroke motion with his arms, enthusiastically signaling our shared bond.
—Kari Buringrud Ranten (80)
Postscript: Among Harry John Dutton’s personal effects, Kari found a letter from Rusty Callow. In Callow’s first year of coaching, he led Dutton and his teammates to the 1923 IRA title, UW’s first. See: https://cougarcrew.com/CallowToLee
VARSITY BOAT CLUB JACKETS
Cougar Crew Varsity Boat Club Jackets, nearly identical to the originals, are once again available for purchase. If yours has gone the way of the Dodo bird, redemption is at hand.
$179 plus $24.95 shipping Jacket supplier: Maverick Awards
Contact Doug Engle to complete the purchase order form. doug_engle@wsu.edu
HARRY JOHN, KARI AND DICK, REDWOOD SHORES, CA, MAY 1977.
1924 HUSKY EIGHT, HARRY JOHN SECOND FROM LEFT.
In his own words
The Captain’s not-so-excellent adventure
The night of Monday, April 8, 2024, was the first I have spent in a hospital in 70 years. Earlier in the day on the golf course, I felt dizzy on the first tee. I was still feeling dizzy on the eighth tee. Some say I have been dizzy a lot longer than that. I decided to go home. Marj and I drove to the Pullman Emergency room at noon. After an EKG and blood test, I was informed I had a heart issue and would be sent to either Spokane or Lewiston for further evaluation.
The staff thought I was large. We discussed rowing and coaching. The ER doctor informed me he had rowed at Yale as a lightweight and that he had several of our shirts. I said that was nice! Several times I was asked about my chest pain. I really had no pain other than what I thought was a little acid indigestion. Apparently, people with heart attacks typically experience chest pain similar to having a baby elephant sitting on their chest. Or, they lose feeling in their feet and hands—not symptoms I was experiencing. I had been feeling a bit lethargic, but attributed that to coming out of winter hibernation.
At 8:30 p.m., I enjoyed my first ambulance ride from Pullman ER, down the grade to St. Joseph’s Regional Medical Center in Lewiston. Some very nice nurses removed my shoes and marveled at the size of my feet. When they put the hospital gown on me, I marveled at its size—apparently one size does not necessarily fit all.
Next day, Tuesday the ninth, I was prepped for the installation of stents—an operation to occur on Wednesday. Wednesday morning brought fresh news. Apparently three of my coronary
The ER doctor informed me he had rowed at Yale as a lightweight and that he had several of our shirts.
arteries were blocked. At 11:00 a.m., I was advised of Plan C. I would be going to Kootenai Health Center in Coeur d’Alene for open heart surgery Thursday morning at 10:00.
The ambulance ride from Lewiston to Coeur d’Alene gave me a two and a half hour look at the Idaho countryside. In Coeur
d’Alene, I had five different tests and evaluations. Afterward, the surgeon came into my room and showed me my beating heart on his laptop screen.
“You have a blockage here, here, here, here, here and possibly here. We will evaluate that in the morning.” Afterward, two young nurses came in to prep me for the next day. This session ended when they put me on my back and informed me that they would be doing a full body shave from neck to ankles.
All I remember about Thursday morning was the blinding white brightness of the surgical theater and lots of little Oompa Loompas running around. On Friday, the surgeon told me all had gone well. The surgery revealed no damage to the heart,
...the surgeon showed me my beating heart on his laptop screen. You have a blockage here, here, here, here, here and possibly here.
thus no heart attack. The operation lasted about five and a half hours, during which I had been on a respirator for just 88 minutes.
He asked me to cough. All I could do was wheeze. I had seven copper wires in my chest holding things together. Later I was informed by a small nurse that “We’re going for a little walk around the room.” “Well,” I said, “if ‘we’ fall,” she “just might be crushed.” She was not dissuaded.
Saturday morning the surgeon asked me to cough again. I wheezed again. The nurses then informed me that “We’re going for a walk down the hall.” The typical patient stays in ICU for three days following open heart surgery. On that Saturday morning walk, I returned to my room after just a day and a half.
For the next couple days, we enjoyed more walking tours: first the nurses’ station, then the wide world of the entire floor. One kindly nurse made a superhero cape for me so that I wasn’t mooning everyone. Tuesday morning, I was informed that I would be transferred to a local recovery facility.
I have since cleared all reviews and rehabs and am waiting to feel 100% perky every day.
—Ken
Struckmeyer (Wisconsin 68)
The First Win
It shouldn’t have happened, but it did.
—Brad Sleeper (78)
On May 4, 2024, the 50th anniversary of the first win of the Cougar Crew over a Husky boat passed quietly into history. Two people remembered the date. In April of 1974, the fledgling crew traveled to Madison, Wisconsin to race at the Midwestern Sprints (aka Midwest Rowing Championships), an opportunity organized by then-new Head Coach Ken Struckmeyer, a Badger Crew alumnus (Wisconsin 68) who had rowed under legendary Husky grad and Wisconsin Head Coach Norm Sonju (Washington 27).
The Midwestern Sprints
Doug McBride (74) recalls a singular act of graciousness by regatta host and Wisconsin Head Coach Randy Jablonic, who motored close to the Cougars at the start and said in a low voice: “Washington State, you’ve come a long way to race in this event. Good Luck!” The Lightweights soundly defeated the field—including the cox who yelled at the start “I’m not going to lose to some damn woman!”—and came into their own. Women had been sanctioned to cox for men only recently, and some looked askance at the WSU Lightweights’ female cox’n, Kathy (Figon) Kaatz (76). Dave Hennings (77) had rowed in high school but the other members of the boat were walk-ons or came to rowing by chance. Their success at the Midwestern Sprints relieved them of the need to believe in themselves. Belief is what you settle for until you know you can win. Madison was an affirmation of their ability. “I knew what winning looked like” said Brad Sleeper, “it just never had been me.” They proved then that a crew from a
FORMER HUSKY AND FIRST COUGAR CREW HEAD COACH BOB ORR IN HIS SINGLE OBSERVES THE LIGHTWEIGHTS FINISH MAY 4, 1974. NOTE THE HUSKY BOW-BALL ON THE “COUGAR ONE” STERN POST. THE CREW IS ROWING WITH SECOND GENERATION OAR LIVERY (RED OAR, BLACK CHEVRON). PHOTO: DAILY EVERGREEN.
home-built shell house with no toilet, no water, and no electricity could be competitive. One week later, the Cougars hosted the Huskies at Almota, the location of our first racecourse.
Cougar-Husky Dual at Home
The Lightweights were down at the start but came even at 1,000 meters, the point where the current was greatest, and continued to gain on the Huskies to the finish. They won by a length and finished in 8:50, good enough for 17th place in the Novice Women’s 4+ at the 2024 ACRA Championships. But the ACRAs were not raced on the Snake during Spring runoff, before the earth-filled portion of Lower Granite Dam was completed. It was, as Jim Rudd (76) recalls, “a grinder.”
The 2,000 meter course at Almota cut across a bend in the Snake. This placed the middle 1,000 meters in the center of the river and required the cox to quarter to port the first half of a race and to starboard in the 3rd 500 in order to crab into the current. The race finished in slack water. At six minutes gone the Huskies would have been preparing for their wind-up when fully one-third of the race remained. It could be said that the Snake was the 10th member of the crew. Of the nine shirts cordially surrendered that day, two are lost, three are fate unknown, and one was incorporated into a quilt. There are three known survivors.
Kaatz reflected on her mixed feelings about the win, a win over a Freshman crew. The Daily Evergreen reported the day before the race that “The Husky squad is not expected to bring its top crews for tomorrow’s race, as they have scheduled a conflicting home meet with UCLA’s rowing club.” Husky Coach Dick Erickson was our benefactor but he was no fool; he did not send his crews to lose. He sent boats that would be competitive. Eric Cohen, Husky cox’n, historian and friend of Dick Erickson, offered this regarding this race:
As you know Erickson had huge teams back in those days and was always looking for opportunities for his guys that were not in the top boats. And those guys appreciated any chance to race. Consistently, when I was there, he would send the 3rd and 4th Varsity and generally the 2nd Frosh [to Pullman]. Those were not slow
ABOVE: ONE OF NINE HUSKY RACING JERSEYS WON AT ALMOTA IN 1974. PHOTO: DOUG MCBRIDE.
PHOTO
boats, in fact were guys (particularly frosh) that would likely end up in a top boat sometime in their 4-year career. That course was a challenge for our coxswains sometimes, and some crazy things happened (in ’81 I think one of our guys got launched). But Dick always had it on the schedule as it was important to him.
The Heavies and Freshmen finished second to the Huskies.
In May 1974, Ken Struckmeyer had been head coach for less than a year. The Cougar One, the programs’ first new-purchase Pocock 8+ and the hull used in the win, was eight months old. Lightweight rowing was thriving. The Midwestern Sprints was a popular and well-attended regional regatta and, for a second season, women were officially sanctioned to cox for men. In May 2024, Coach Struckmeyer was recovering from a 5-way bypass. The Cougar One, her livery removed after she was given up, was a
GOT CREW STUFF?
Dialing for display space for the bow of the Cougar One, Mike Klier and Doug Engle hit the jackpot: the CUB offered them five months’ use of three giant glassenclosed display cases. Room enough to spotlight the past, present and future of Cougar Crew for thousands of passersby. Bonus prize: the CUB will sponsor a lateAugust wine and cheese opening reception debuting the exhibit. Details to follow. Organizers seek documents, artifacts and memorabilia: we need an eye-catching, informative collection showcasing the past, present and future of Cougar Crew. Content, tone and focus will flow from the quality of what we can assemble. Apparel, posters, photos, press clippings, scrapbooks, ribbons, medals, personal correspondence, journal jottings, video clips; you name it. All will be considered for display. Paul Enquist plans to loan his 1984 Olympic jersey, medal and sculls. The Cougar One bow will be central to the exhibit. Propose an exhibit item here: https://www.cougarcrew.com/contact-us (Contact > Cougar Crew Alumni Association > Officer to Contact > CUB Exhibit)
nameless 12-foot bow section in the corner of our ergometer loft. Lightweight rowing existed in theory but hardly in fact, and the Midwestern Sprints was a thing of the past, victim to budget cuts and changing athletic department priorities.
Ironically, the NCAA is now the only organization forbidding men to cox for women. But the change for those of us with 50 years astern that is the hardest to believe is that, given modifications to organizational rules and official collegiate affiliations, no crew of ours will again compete with the Huskies.
There is one and only one first row, first new hull, first win. Dave Hennings (77), Tony Shapiro (77), Brad Sleeper (78), Bob Appleyard (75), Bruce Warninger (74), Doug McBride (74), Jim Rudd (76), Steve Norling (77) and Kathy Kaatz (76) saw 50 years come and go last May as our first crew to prevail over a Husky boat. It should not have happened, but they did it.
—Mike Klier
(75)
FOUNDERS WE HAVE LOST
• Lynel Bortles (Unknown–2021) Lynel was a founding member of the Rowing Club formed November 12, 1970, which became Cougar Crew. Little more is known about him. We have no photos of Lynel in a boat, but the well-attended inaugural row, in which he probably participated, was not well documented. If anyone from Lynel’s era has additional information, please share.
• Jan Koal (1949–2021) Jan was a founding member and shell house builder, and is visible in the two seat of the Winlock W. Miller in the only known snapshot of the inaugural row. Koal later served in the US Navy during the Vietnam War, earned a Ph.D. and became an Adjunct Professor in Real Estate investing at WSU. Jan managed his own computer business and lived many years in Pullman before retiring to Coeur d’Alene, Idaho.
• James Fischer (1955–2019) James “Jim” Fischer (77) rowed four years and earned a seat in the Heavy eight in the Fall of 1974. Famous (or infamous) for salvaging the bow and stern sections of the Loyal Shoudy, destroyed on Black Thursday (April 5, 1973), Jim grafted the fragments together as a nominally seaworthy vessel roughly approximating a 4+. He was in the heavy eight at the 1974 Sprints in Burnaby, BC that went sideways off the start, “snatching defeat from the jaws of victory” and finishing second. A degree in Electrical Engineering took him to Honeywell Aerospace in Tucson, Arizona where he spent his entire career. Quiet, determined, easy-going, Jim was an asset to every boat he rowed.
—Mike Klier (75)
BRAD SLEEPER (78) PLANING THE REPAIRED CUTWATER OF THE COUGAR ONE
Number 4 is on Display
Good stuff happens when we make it happen
Restoration of the David M Emigh was completed at the end of July 2023. We did a good job selecting for long days of natural light, but a poor job of taking into consideration the heat, algae bloom on the Snake, the heat, a glut of New Cougs queuing up for Ferdinand’s, and the heat.
During the photo-documentation prior to the arrival of the restoration team, we discovered the DME had sustained a broadside from a 410 shotgun loaded with bird-shot at a distance of about 30 yards. Aging of the wound and related evidence leads to the conclusion that this almost certainly occurred enroute from Pullman to Denver, CO when she was given or sold to the Ram Corporation sometime in the 1990s.
Because we elected to display the shell rolled 45 degrees from fully inverted, it was necessary to engineer a trio of cradles to hold the hull. That work was completed by Civil Engineer and Rowing Club founder Rich Stager (74). Tony Shapiro (75), designated architect on the project, built a 3D model of Student Rec and the shell to ensure the best possible fit and esthetics and navigated the challenging waters of the Whitman County and WSU building codes. Combined with the hull cradles, Stager designed three arched-steel support-arms now permanently bolted to the steel flange of the elevated track at Student Rec. The program now has a tangible artifact of its legacy on public display, thanks in no small measure to the enthusiastic and loyal support of UREC Executive Director Joanne Greene.
The DME is the fourth 8+ purchased new by the team and is
DME IN THE SHELLHOUSE AFTER THE LAST LAYER OF TOPCOAT WAS APPLIED. LENGTH: 59’ 9.5” CUTWATER TO STERNPOST. MAXIMUM BEAM WIDTH AT THE GUNWALE TOPS: 25.5”. WEIGHT WITHOUT RIGGERS: 268LBS.
the oldest known intact hull from the WSU wood-boat era. The serial number on the sternpost decodes to a manufacturing year of 1979. She was christened February 14, 1980. Her streamlines and displacement are tailored for a Lightweight crew. She retains her original WSU Property Tag, Article No. 246610, for which there is no official existing record. Hull Restoration Team: Peter Brevick, Fred Darvill, Doug Engle, Marcia and Jim Flynn, Kathy Kaatz, Mike Klier, Steve Ranten, Ken Struckmeyer.
—Mike Klier (75)
Alumni Notes
Griffin Berger (Plant Sciences, 2016) is Operations Manager and co-owner/operator with parents Carol and Jesse, of Sauk Farm LLC, a vertically integrated, organic apple orchard at the confluence of the Sauk and Skagit rivers. Sauk Farm specializes in the production and processing of the incomparably crunchy and delicious Honeycrisp, Evercrisp, Cosmic Crisp, and CrimsonCrisp, as well as the Ambrosia. The Bergers currently manage 20 acres of orchard, adding more trees every year. Products include cider, puree, dried apples and apple fiber. Sauk Farm products are available at many regional food co-ops and online at www.saukfarm.com
John Krause (80; second from right) was honored at his recent retirement for 45 years of public service to the people of Oregon. Starting with the Department of Forestry at the Elliott State Forest, Krause soon moved to Columbia County, where he specialized in Forest Practices. He retired as a Stewardship Forester, a position he filled for 39 years, helping landowners and operators comply with Oregon’s Forest Practices Act. To his crew mates, John was either “JBK” or “John Boy.” He may or may not remember that in 1977 he gently and respectfully counseled your editor that home-stitched bell-bottom jeans from Ellensburg would not do in cosmopolitan Pullman. John explains his work here: https://shorturl.at/b4Rx7
In case you missed it Dept.
Dave Arnold (88) and David Curran (87) are among the co-founders of Tri-Cities Rowing Club. Dave is currently President and edits their newsletter, first issue here: https://cougarcrew.com/TriCitiesNewsletterSept2024. Learn more: https://www.facebook.com/rowtc
Two old oars were profiled in Washington State Magazine’s Winter 2023 issue.
Bob Appleyard (75): “Different strokes” by Adriana Janovich https://magazine.wsu.edu/2023/10/27/different-strokes/
Mike McQuaid (87): “It’s in the crimson blood” by Loren Ward https://magazine.wsu.edu/2023/10/27/its-in-the-crimson-blood/
Jim Flynn (76) expresses that borderline euphoric disbelief typical of many old oars confirming, against all odds, that our second boathouse near Boyer Park & Marina remains standing and it serves an active tenant. Also (how fervently we often wished), it is wired for electrical power.
Kathy Garneau (90) received her Doctor of Education degree in Instructional Technology in December 2023, following the successful defense of her dissertation, “Community-Based Problem Solving in STEM: A Qualitative Case Study of K-8 STEM Education.” Happy grad seen here with daughter Maddy and husband Jeff Cornell at the July, 2024 American College of Education graduation ceremonies held in Indianapolis, IN.
