The summer of 2004 was an eventful one for Wisconsin rowing. Two Badger alumni competed in Athens, with Beau Hoopman striking Olympic gold in the men’s eights. Wisco dropped from a No. 5 ranking and sputtered in Camden, N.J., advancing only one boat to a grand finals race. Finally, head coach Chris Clark and his team waved goodbye to several top-shell staples including veteran stroke Alex Cockerill and both of the brothers Boyd.
Now the program looks to its promising sophomores and juniors to propel Wisconsin to redemption.
“It seems to me that most people are pretty motivated by last year’s disappointments,” junior rower Mike Tupek said. “So, I think that’s going to be a big focus point this year.”
The hope of success rests on the performance of Tupek, the only sophomore to row for the varsity eight last year, and the leadership of newly appointed team captain Ryan Schwend. Coxswain Mike Lucey, the lone remaining participant from the Badgers’ No. 3-ranked 2002 campaign, returns for his third and final year at the stern.
Wisconsin’s loss of power since the spring of ’04 puts greater pressure on the former freshman prospect Tupek to rise to his potential.
“I’ve definitely matured technique-wise,” Tupek said. “I feel this year is a good opportunity for me; junior year is a breakout year for most rowers. So this is the year I hope to make big leaps physically and help push the team to a successful year again.”
Sophomores Andy Kaufman, Max Vice-Reshel and Benjamin Szymanski are expected to make the leap from novice boat all the way to varsity. In the interest of fostering success in seasons to come, Clark hopes to get more sophomores rowing in the top shell after last year’s class yielded just Tupek.
“I have to have three guys, there’s no option,” Clark said. “I’ll be pretty unhappy if they don’t make it.”
“Those guys have the big ergs, the size and the potential,” Lucey said. “If they go to their potential, we could be as fast as any other year. It’s going to be a mystery.”
The sophomore trio adds a new power dynamic to the boat, but with all the turnover, it’s too early to start gauging expectations.
“If you look at what we’ve done so far, we’re not going to be as good this year as years before on paper, but we haven’t seen the ergs yet this year,” Lucey said. “We do have, including Mike (Tupek) and two other sophomores (Kaufman and Max-Reshel), a few erg scores that will be just as good as last year.”
With the Head of the Charles just a month away, Clark begins to undergo the process of determining his starting lineup and finding out who among the incoming freshman can be expected to contribute.
The team’s training camp, still the tent facilities at Willows Beach until the completion of the new UW Crew House, remains swelled with tryouts seeking a place on the team and returning rowers working toward a spot on a higher boat.
“There’s a lot of guys coming back, which is always good,” Clark said. “Often I think people would look at a football team and ask, ‘Why do they have 110 guys?’ I know why. He’s looking for the same thing we are — that depth, that critical mass, guys pushing other guys to the top.”
This week the team begins a physiological test known as a “genetic erg,” which determines the natural rowing ability of incoming rowers prior to any training. The erg gives coaches an idea of who to watch and helps predetermine the success of the class.
Clark explained the importance of this preseason bench test: “I’ve went back and looked at a lot of the numbers over the years, and it’s shocking how directly related those numbers are to the success that class has over the next four years. It’s a little bit self-fulfilling that the guys that do best on that are the guys that I pay the most attention to, but I can’t create a superstar; they’re born.”
The competition for a spot in the varsity boat will continue to rage through early October. Lucey estimates that 16 rowers are in position to grab a spot, a notable increase over last fall.
