Tale of the Wayward Mariners

by Ben Softness '06 and David Imbert '06E

October 21, 2006
Boston, MA

A petite Asian woman, whose brilliance is outshone by only her poise, pilots the Frederick C. Rimmele down the windy Charles River. Four athletes move their bodies in elegant unison as they propel the sleek, black shell through the water. When they land at the dock, the oarsmen carry the craft on their shoulders the quarter-mile to their trailer. The boat weighs 200 pounds, but judging by the looks on the rowers' faces, you would think it was light as a feather. They are among the 20 best collegiate fours at the prestigious regatta, and their time is within 10 percent of that of the race's winner. Yet the only thought on their minds is 'how can we do better?' This is Amherst Crew.

Chills rushed down our spines as we realized that only a year ago, that title - Amherst Crew - described us. That never-enough ambition was ours, and we were part of the crew that powered the Rimmele down Boston's classic course. Four years of college, though, had ushered in a new generation of crew heroes, and today's Rimmele saw us not as engines, but as fans.

Of course, we weren't there just to watch: we were back in Boston for the next chapter of our rowing careers, the Alumni Eight.

The brainchild of Head Coach Bill Stekl, the Amherst College Alumni Rowing Association had, over the course of the last five years, become a US-Rowing-recognized club team and had earned the right to enter one boat per year - male or female - into the Head of the Charles. This year, it was the men's turn, and Amherst turned to her most decorated alumni to fill out the roster.

Instead of the customary random drawing, an erg test placed the eight fastest available rowers - including the two of us - into the Thistle and Rose, and coxswain Ihan Kim '95 composed a strategic lineup designed to leverage the strengths of each rower. The 3-mile Charles River course is left-turn heavy, so Kim leaned on the starboards for the strength to get around the turns. Both of us starboards, we ended up in the bow (David) and stroke (Ben) seats in the bucket-rigged eight. (I, Ben, had always wanted to row in stroke seat but never had. When Coach Stekl asked me how I finally made it, I smiled and said "I just had to make sure you didn't make the lineup.")

We showed up a day early so that we could row together one time before race day. From the first few strokes, it was clear we had all been coached by the same guy. Despite individual differences in size and power, the slide speed was relaxed and we were swinging together. Actually, we felt good: combining the boat-feel with the erg test results, we felt like we might even be fast. "If we had all been in college at the same time," someone remarked, "we might have made a pretty fast eight." So, the next day, donning our regatta regalia - custom white and purple jerseys designed by David Imbert - we took to the water with confidence.

We were, in a word, humbled.

We finished 57th of 58. We endured three collisions and incurred three minutes and twenty seconds of penalties. The Boston Globe gave our eight the unofficial award of "Wayward Mariner" (Boston Globe, Monday, October 30th). Though we had impressed ourselves by traveling hours and skipping work to be able to row on the Friday before the race, it was clear that what we had devoted in 48 hours wasn't close to what Amherst's current rowers contribute day in and day out.

But amid the short-lived disappointment of a lackluster row lay the lesson of what the Alumni boat was all about. For our two-day try at a fast boat was not only shy of the efforts made by the current Amherst Crew; it was a far cry from what each of us used to do as members of the rowing team. Things had, as they inevitably do, changed: the boat now felt heavy on our shoulders, and 'how can we do better?' had become 'how many emails have we received on our Blackberries since we launched?'

At the end of the day, the race of the Alumni Eight was not about results but about bringing together nine men who shared a common bond - membership in an organization that taught us how to push ourselves to the limits of our capabilities. And though we might not have made it to those limits this particular Saturday, the athletes who filled our shoes certainly did. Even as the team of yesteryear, we were there to celebrate the team of today. We were there to commemorate a program we poured our hearts into for four years, and, by watching the men and women who do it now, we were reminded why having been a part of it makes us so proud.

And even if the Globe wasn't impressed, stepping out of our all-too-ordinary lives to row in la creme de la creme de la rowing world was, for these two wayward mariners, the thrill of a lifetime.

Lineup:
Coxswain: Ihan Kim '95
Stroke: Ben Softness '06
7: Dirk Delo '89
6: David Muhlenfeld '94
5: David Choffnes '02
4: Matt Lawlor '91
3: Chris Moore '92
2: Baker Franke '02
Bow: David Imbert '06E

For all the members, past and present, of Amherst Crew.