A Storybook year for former Oakland Strokes Rower Ian Drake
A few years back, Orinda resident and former Oakland Strokes athlete Ian Drake could not have imagined a year like the one he had (2011-12) as a freshman rower at the University of Washington. He went from the rags of a Gruntie newbie to the riches of rowing, attending the Henley Royal Regatta in England.
In hindsight, Ian Drake reflects that there was no way he could have been fully prepared to row at the University of Washington. He says, “Rowing for Strokes however, got me halfway there.” As an Oakland Stroke, Drake was at the top of the heap. At the 2011 National Youth Rowing Championships he was in the 4+ that claimed the National title and came in second in the pair. Yet nothing could give him full appreciation for a year as a Washington Gruntie.
Oakland Strokes Coach Dameon Engblom, David Hosler, Ian Drake, Alec Steele, Dmitri Baefsky, Gabe Larwood at the National Youth Rowing Championships, June 2011.
“Gruntie” is the name given to first year rowers on the University of Washington men’s team. The moniker hangs on the new rowers as they spend the first year proving themselves to every other rower and coach at every opportunity. “Washington Rowing is bigger than you” is drilled into the athlete’s heads all year. Drake explains, “As freshman we had to earn everything, including the right to wear a W on the water. From the gear we wear, to the boats we race, nothing was given without earning them through training and racing”. The Grunties are held accountable to preserve, and live up to the Husky Crew tradition that started in 1899. The varsity squad requires freshman to work hard off the water as well. For example, they must learn the Washington fight song and be able to name every rower from the Washington 8 who defeated the Germany in front of Hitler during 1936 Olympics.
As one of the best rowing programs in the country, UW recruits the top rowers from around the world. One of Washington’s unique traditions is to hold open tryouts. On the first day, about 90 students, a mix of recruits and hopeful walk-ons, show up hoping to make the team.
Drake describes the first day of tryouts, “Luke McGee, our freshman men’s coach and current Olympic coach, gave the hopefuls a talk and then ran them out to the field to ‘just run a couple sprints’.” Drake says, “Twenty minutes later, half a dozen people had lost their lunch, and one was passed out cold” (he didn’t make the cut). At the end of the first week, 27 did make the cut. Those 27 rowers would compete to earn one of eight seats in the Frosh 8 boat.
At the onset of the season, Drake shared that he wasn’t very confident. At 6’2”, he was among the shortest of the Grunties. He wasn’t on scholarship and had “done zero” summer rowing. He says that “In the end though, I shattered every goal I had set for myself”. He spent all of Fall season in the second frosh boat, but during the Winter season his erg times began to improve and he found himself catching up to the bigger guys on the team. That gave him increasing opportunities to seat race and he explains, “As any rower knows, ergs don’t float, but they do earn you a seat race, and get you noticed.” On the water, he observed that the most successful rowers listened to the coach, made the changes in their technique, and held the changes without having to be constantly reminded. “That’s what makes the difference in a competitive field of all-stars.” By Spring racing season he was in the top Frosh boat for good. However, the only time he really believed he was without risk of losing his seat was in the final days of the season when they started to taper for IRAs.
The University of Washington Frosh 8+. Ian Drake is at far right.
Rowing is full of traditions, one of which is that crews “bet” their “tanks” (the tank top jersey worn in races). Drake recalls that “It was a big deal for me when my boat mates and I got our tanks because they’re essentially the same as the ones worn since the start of Husky crew over 100 years ago. Win you keep it. Loose, and you give it to the winners…winner takes all. “I was so nervous for my first collegiate races against Brown and Stanford for fear that I would lose my tank.” he shared. And if you do win, the tanks are not washed, ever, for fear that the “mojo” could get rinsed away. Winning every race meant that you could smell the team coming when they were wearing their tanks. “Going undefeated all season was unbelievable”, Drake says, “and our “W” tanks got pretty smelly and discolored by the Intercollegiate Rowing Association Championship Regatta (IRA’s)”. the last race of the season.
For Drake and his teammates, traveling to the IRA’s was a “business trip”. The team had a singular focus. They wanted to finish strong with their undefeated season in tact. They also knew every other crew would be gunning for them at the championship regatta. Drake admitted when race day finally rolled around, he was beside himself with nerves. He describes the experience, “When our boat was sitting at the starting blocks, blades squared in the water, I remember looking down and seeing my hands shaking. The announcer did his usual, ‘Attention. GO!’. We were rowing for about 10 seconds before we were called back for an early start. That just made it worse. Cal was noticeably up on us before the race was stopped. We started again and once again Cal was up with almost a length until the 1K mark. At that point, the coxswain called a crush move and we took off. After another 250 meters I was on their bow ball, and made sure they knew it by yelling, ‘bowwwwwww ballllllllll!’. After that, Cal dropped off with only a few attempts to push back. That was the first and last time a boat was up on us all year. It’s the only race I’ve ever had where I didn’t feel any pain across the finish line; too much adrenaline, too much happiness for pain.” Drake’s Gruntie 8 crossed the line in a blisteringly fast time of 5 min 31 seconds. Ultimately, all of the Washington Men’s 8’s went undefeated all season and UW finished the season with a sweep at the IRAs. Drake added, “At the award ceremony we all the men’s crews stood on the awards dock, and as it started to sink under our collective weight we sang the fight song as loud as we could. When we returned to our boat, our seats were piled with tanks and shirts from every crew that competed against us in the championship regatta.”
UW Gruntie 8+ after winning at the IRA’s
June 2012 - Three former Oakland Strokes at IRA’s at the end of their freshman year. Ian Drake (Washington), Alec Steele (Dartmouth) and Dmitri Baefsky (Cal)
That sounds like a interesting ending to a great story, but there was one more chapter in the book. After their momentous season, Drake’s 8+ sat down together to decide if they should go to Henley. Attending would come with a significant investment of time (an additional month of training tacked on to their already grueling 9 month season) and money. The coach made it clear, “If you go decide to go to Henley, you HAVE to win Henley.” The boat voted to take the trip. The team trained just as hard as the days before IRAs. Drake remembers “It was really hard to keep the motivation up after already winning an IRA ring”.
One of the most prestigious rowing events in the world, the Henley Royal Regatta has been held each July since 1839. Located 40 miles outside of London in Henley-upon-Thames, the Regatta has often been attended by members of the Royal Family and last year drew 115 crews from overseas. It’s a spectacle of rowing with ancient rules and dress codes that requires formal attire for the spectators including the suggestion that, “It is customary for ladies to wear hats.”
The team arrived in Great Britain to acclimate and train a full week before the regatta began. Royal Henley Regatta is a bracket style tournament that lasts five days. Two crews go head to head to move on to the next race. The number of races is reduced on each successive day, leaving only the Finals to be rowed on the last day. The length of the Course is 1 mile 550 yards, which is 112 meters longer than the standard international distance of 2,000M. It takes approximately seven minutes to cover, so for much of the day there are often two races at once on the course.
On the day of the final there were 500,000 spectators lining the Thames river. In the final race, the UW Grunties were up against Brown University’s JV boat. Winner takes the Temple cup. In the end, it wasn’t really a matchup. UW won with over a length of open water. Drake remembers hearing the weird roar of a half million people politely clapping, with the occasional American accented cheers from friends and family, his father’s booming voice and mother’s “Go Huskies” floating above them all.
University of Washington’s Frosh 8 cross the finish line at Henley
Ceremonial toss of the winning coxswain into the Thames
The crew was presented with the Temple Cup from the mayor of London. Each rowers name is engraved on it just below all the previous champions; a perpetual reminder to a magical season and indeed, a very happy ending to the story. The End.
University of Washington Team with the Temple Cup at Henley Royal Regatta, July 2012
Ian Drake with the Temple Cup
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