By Mayar Zokaei
Daily Bruin Contributor
Casey Parlette is probably right.
If you don’t know much about the sport of rowing, it looks
like just a bunch of guys rowing in a boat. And if you saw the
intensity displayed in practices, especially the amount radiating
in the form of sweat from the bodies of Parlette and two of his
teammates, you would wonder what maniacal thoughts could compel
these athletes to be pushing full-force, since the season is still
two months away.
Well, it’s simple: the triumvirate of John Tapia-Grassi,
Erik Krogh-Jespersen and Parlette is vying for coveted lightweight
spots on the U.S. National Rowing Team.
To tryout for the team, U.S. Rowing, the national governing body
for the sport, stipulates that athletes do time trials on a rowing
ergometer (a machine that simulates the actions of rowing an actual
boat) and submit the results to U.S. Rowing. There are six tests,
one each month from December to May. The times from each athlete
are ranked and athletes with the best times are chosen to attend
training camps during the summer.
Athletes practice mostly by performing the 6K, while the actual
national team competes in the 2K race. To compare, in track
parlance, the 6K would be like a cross-country race, while the 2K
is more like a sprint.
Of the 35 athletes that have participated nationally thus far
this season, the members of the trio have ranked 24th, 18th and
20th, respectively, distinguishing UCLA as the only school to have
three representatives on the list.
“Last season, we took our first trip to nationals as a
team,” crew coach Erinn McMahan said. “This year, we
are a much better team, and with the addition of Casey and Erik, we
will try to get back.
“Before we do that, these guys are getting ready for
something a little more intense.”
Men’s crew lost its designation as a varsity sport 10
years ago at UCLA, and since then, team dues and alumni
contributions have virtually been the sole factors in perpetuating
the sport.
But for now, the focus is on the three rowers who are striving
for a chance to compete in the 2K race and experience Olympic
glory. Last season, it was only Tapia-Grassi who had any
aspirations of trying out for the national team.
Krogh-Jespersen is a first-year graduate student from Rutgers
University who is most likely competing in his last crew season.
Parlette is a transfer, and he has been rowing for a mere four
months.
“I was walking down Bruin Walk one day in the beginning of
last quarter, and someone handed me a flyer about rowing
tryouts,” Parlette, a lifeguard for the city of Laguna Beach,
said. “I decided to give it try and it’s worked out
well.”
Parlette’s ability to quickly grasp the skills required to
excel in crew has put his two coaches, McMahan and Paul Steinke, in
a somewhat unfavorable predicament. Steinke wants to keep Parlette
on his novice squad, the primary level most first-year rowers are
relegated to. But McMahan may see more value in moving Parlette to
the top varsity tier.
Krogh-Jespersen also brings much-needed experience to the squad.
Almost all the other 60 or so members of the squad are walk-on
rowers, and most haven’t participated in the sport for more
than a year, so Krogh-Jespersen’s leadership will play an
integral role.
And despite their individual goals, all three are quick to quip
that it’s all “about the team.”
“Everybody comes here because they want to be here,”
said Tapia-Grassi, who decided to forgo the opportunity to return
home over the summer and spent the three months training in
Westwood. “If I didn’t have these 60 guys or the
coaches to work with everyday and support me, I wouldn’t be
where I am today.”
The men’s crew team also boasts a cumulative GPA that
hovers just above the 3.4 range, according to Tapia-Grassi, and is
one of the more close-knit athletic teams on campus.
“I’ve played soccer, football, basketball and
everything else in high school,” he said. “But coming
into a new sport, especially this one, has helped me with my school
life, my academic life and my family life.”
“There are no reporters, no camera crews, no scholarships,
but everyone is here because they want to be here,” Parlette
said.
Last Monday, the group was busy taking the January test.
Parlette finished with a group-best 20:50, 30 seconds more than
what is probably needed to earn a spot on the national team.
Krogh-Jespersen finished a close second, and Tapia-Grassi finished
with a respectable time despite battling fatigue.
All three are optimistic that their efforts will not only pay
off with an opportunity to compete either on the development,
pre-elite or elite squads during the training camp summer, but that
their hard work will translate into a successful season for UCLA in
2002.
“The motivation that pushes us harder is seeing our
teammates improve and everyone show up for 5 a.m. practices,”
Parlette said.” “It gets really intense, even if
it’s just practice.”