Wyatt Allen and the Pursuit of a Passion by J
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Wyatt Allen speaks to members of Rivanna Rowing Club’s Junior Olympic Modesty: program, June 2015. Wyatt Allen and the Pursuit of a Passion By J. Anderson Thomson, Jr., M.D. World record holder. National Rowing Foundation Hall of Fame member. Winner of the single sculls at the Henley Royal Re- gatta. New York Athletic Club Hall of Fame member. Seven-time U.S. National Team member. United States rowing male athlete of the year, two years running. And let us not forget about those Olympic medals—bronze and gold. No, it’s not the United States national rowing team. It’s one man—Wyatt Allen, 2001 University of Virginia graduate and rowing team member. Now the head men’s rowing coach at Dartmouth College, Wyatt was back in Charlottesville this summer to help UVA women’s rowing coach Kevin Sauer select the men’s Under 23 eight and straight four for the World Rowing Under 23 Championships held in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, in late July. The selection of the straight four, Wyatt’s main responsibility, finished on Monday, July 6th, the last possible day of camp. Sauer and Wyatt had settled on the composition of the eight the previous week. The teams Wyatt helped select did well: the eight took silver, and the straight four came in fourth. Between practices, Wyatt sat down with a member of Rivanna INSPIRATION COMES FULL CIRCLE Rowing Club to talk about the camp, coaching, and his career. In 1965 I rowed for F. C. Hammond High School How does it feel to be back in Charlottesville? in Alexandria, Virginia, which would later merge with George Washington High School to form T. C. I haven’t been back much since I graduated, so I’ve enjoyed Williams High School. One of the then famous Am- the month here. The university seems the same, but the town long brothers, who rowed in the 1964 gold medal has grown. It seems like a hipper place, a lot like Oakland Olympic eight, visited, talked to our crews and left an indelible memory on this seventeen-year-old rower. (CA) where my wife and I lived until last year, when I took the Because of the impact that visit had on me, I called job at Dartmouth and we moved to Hanover (NH). Cathy Coffman, fellow Rivanna sculler and rowing coach for both the Rivanna junior program and the How does the Under 23 selection camp work? Albemarle High School crew, and told her of my experience. She decided to ask Wyatt to speak to This year’s camp ran from June 6th to July 11th; July 6th her rowers. was the final selection deadline. Twenty-eight young men were When he visited with Cathy’s team, Wyatt brought invited, though several were unable to attend because their col- with him the experiences of a rower in the eight lege crews raced at the Royal Henley Regatta. that won gold for the US for the first time since Joe and Tom Amlong’s eight did in 1964. The eight, the priority, is a more straightforward selection Just as an Amlong inspired me, Wyatt likely in- process. Coming into camp, you have some idea of who will spired them—and likely left a lasting impression on be on that team. Some rowers from last summer’s team have another young rower who might well remember it returned. New rowers arrive with reputations based on what many years from now. they have accomplished during the collegiate season. Still, you —JAT have to remain open-minded and provide each invitee with an opportunity to prove himself. Two rowers from last year’s eight were still age-eligible, and there was one rower from last year’s straight four. All three made this year’s eight. Selecting the straight four was a big challenge. There was considerable parity among the guys in the group, and the majority of them had not spent much time in a straight four with no coxswain. Rowers bring different styles from their respective programs: their rhythm, their organization of the recovery, and their power application. You notice some of these differences when you watch crews at IRAs (Intercollegiate Rowing Association Championships). But when you put individuals from different schools in a boat together, you really see it. These rowers have to be adaptable. There are some who are so strong you feel like you need them to be in the boat, but in the end it comes down to who fits the best. Kevin and I come from a similar school of thought, and we teach the same kind of stroke. At the collegiate level these days, you see a wide range of styles and power applications. There has been a trend towards applying the legs and opening the back relatively early in the stroke, creating a lot of force right off the bat. It leads to a relatively shorter stroke and potentially higher ratings. Kevin and I have been stressing a style with more separa- tion on the drive, making for a longer and more patient stroke. In addition to styles difference, everyone’s body types and geometry are different. You have to select to accom- modate the individual rower’s flexibility and biomechanics. It’s a balancing act. There is enormous pressure to do well. You want to select the best crew, but this is a devel- opment camp for rowers who will go on to the senior national team. You are looking for long-term potential. In addition to selecting the fastest crew for this summer’s world championships, you are ever mindful of, “How can we help them develop as athletes going forward to future U.S. national boats?” How do you seat race for the straight four? It’s difficult. Given the water and buoy line here, we did a lot of our racing over 1100 meters. 2000 meters is too long to be repeatable. But then you wonder if a good combination will be able to hold speed over 2000 meters. Are they losing speed at the end of 1100 meters? What happened at 700 meters? You can sometimes tell if the wheels are starting to come off even in a boat that initially looked fast. Who will be the fastest over 2000 meters two to three weeks from now? We started the selection camp in coxed fours, and then transitioned to seat racing in straight fours. The stroke steers with a toe rudder. We stop a piece if the steering is off, because that may not necessarily be the stroke’s fault, but rather a result of power or balance problems. Last year’s Under 23 camp was held at a lake in California that had no buoy line. We had little idea if the four was going straight and how they would handle rowing in buoy lines. When we got to Princeton, where all the national team boats converge before traveling to the world championships, the steering problems were obvious. We tried moving the toe steering throughout the boat. Eventually the bowman did the best job. They still had problems at the U-23 World Championship in Italy, but managed a respectable sixth place finish. We also consider the environment of the rower’s university program. Are they at a high-level program, or coming out of programs that are not that good? Has this rower been at IRA finals year after year and is not going to be fazed by the environment at worlds? I came out of the Virginia club program, not one of the traditional powerhouses. (The benefit of the doubt can go to the rower who comes out of the top program.) However, for a guy coming out of a smaller program, there can be a large upside. This camp has a good mix: incredibly strong but green guys from smaller programs along with a big group of guys that rowed in a very competitive grand final this year at the IRA. Erg scores are important, but the spreads are only maybe four seconds, eight seconds at the most, over 2000 meters. You need some big horses to drive the boat, but the biggest guys may not be the best. If a rower is big, his mistakes can cause problems. If a big guy is unable to suspend his weight on the handle during the recovery, he disrupts the boat. My own experience as a rower in selection U23 eight and supporters on the UVA dock July 4th, 2015. camp helps me relate to the camp guys, not just on the water but off the water as well. It’s easy to forget how emotional and stressful the situation is for the athletes. They were top last week, and this week they’re struggling. One of my roles is to help them not get too high, or too low, but to remain at an even keel. Having been through the camp system as athlete and coach has helped me with per- spective and all the elements that go into the selection process. Just because a boat is faster after you switched rower A for rower B doesn’t necessarily mean that rower A is stronger. The boat may now be a better combination. Maybe rower B is stronger, but he has less im- pact when he is with others in a straight four. There are a lot of unappreciated imperfections in seat racing, but it is also important to make the process fair and transparent. My two years as a rower at the Under 23 selections camps (2000 and 2001) were some of the most enjoyable I had in rowing.