Crooke Comes Full Circle

After attending Henley for three years as a spectator, Florida Tech’s David Crooke finally hits the River Thames as a competitor.

Henley-on-Thames, England —The last three years, David Crooke traveled to the banks of the River Thames to soak in the Royal Henley Regatta’s grandeur as a spectator. He watched, but didn’t race; cheered, but didn’t compete. He walked amongst Henley’s famed rainbow of blazer — everything from baby chick yellows to salmon pinks and chickpea tans to clownfish oranges — but wasn’t truly part of Henley.

It was a cruel purgatory for a budding young rower.

Crooke had the opportunity to visit Henley for the first time in the summer of 2008. His father moved to London in July 2007 and Crooke, who had recently graduated from high school in Dayton, Ohio, decided to take a year off from school to travel Europe and row out of Eton Excelsior Rowing Club in Windsor, England. He enrolled at Florida Tech in fall of 2008, joined the crew team, and returned to Henley in 2009, after his freshman year.

When Crooke attended last year’s Henley following his sophomore year, a thought percolated in the back of his head — it would be really great to row here with FIT.

One year later, that idea became a reality.

“By the third year, I really, really wanted to race here,” said Crooke on Wednesday

afternoon. “The progression got stronger each year.”

Sitting in the six seat of Florida Tech’s varsity eight, Crooke pushed off from a dock on the Thames just after 9 o’clock this morning. Head coach Jim Granger looked down upon Crooke and his fellow oarsmen and delivered his ritualistic last words.

“Row hard. Row well.”

At that moment, the realization set in for Crooke. He was here — at Henley — on the Thames — competing. The boat pulled away from the docks and out toward the freeway of boats teeming up and down the river. FIT rowed downriver past the Stewards’ Enclosure. It stroked past the Regatta Enclosure that Crooke used to sit and watch from, then past the Barn Bar where he ate. Finally, the crew passed Temple Island and spun toward the starting line.

As FIT circled back, a wrestling match of nerves and excitement waged on in Crooke’s

stomach. This was finally it.

“It wasn’t until we got to the starting line that I settled in and the race itself felt like any

other race,” Crooke said. “I just listened to (coxswain Casey Dalal) and watched (stroke seat Jonas Karalius).”

Crooke, Karalius, Dalal and the rest of the FIT eight squashed their nerves. The crew churned down the Thames in 6 minutes, 40 seconds to finish 1 1/4 length ahead of Cambridge LRC. After three years of waiting Crooke rowed in — and won — his first race at Henley. Upon hitting the finish line, Crooke’s back was facing the same Thames Bridge that he crossed three years ago when he caught his first glimpse of Henley.

“I remember walking over the bridge for the first time; looking left and seeing the layout of the Regatta — the tents, the stands, the docks and all the people,” Crooke said. “It was unbelievable.”

Tomorrow Crooke will have another go-round — a second round test in the Temple Challenge Cup against Yale’s lightweight eight. As was the case today, the family he used to attend Henley with — his mom, dad, brother and two sisters — will cheer him on from the Enclosure he used to watch from.

Having come full circle, Crooke summed it up this week the best way he could.

“It’s just surreal.”

***