The Mystery, The Answer, The Opportunity

Florida Tech’s varsity eight didn’t know how it would come back together after a month apart.  They got their answer.  Now, the Royal Henley Regatta awaits.

Henley-on-Thames, England — As the men of Florida Tech’s varsity eight climbed into a shell on the River Thames in the town of Windsor last week, the scene was enveloped in mystery.

Could they still go fast?  It was anyone’s guess.

“Yeah,” said FIT head coach Jim Granger in hindsight, “there were some question marks.”

In a way, Florida Tech’s varsity eight was being reintroduced last week.  It had been one month since the crew rowed as a complete unit.  They all remembered their last race vividly — a gut-punching, heart-wrenching second-place finish in the Aberdeen Dad Vail Regatta finals in May.  That was supposed to be their final race of the season.

Things didn’t exactly turn out that way.

As was planned, the crew went its separate ways after the Aberdeen Dad Vail.  In some cases, a long way.  The stroke pair of Jonas Karalius and Mindaugas Beliauskas went home to Lithuania to try out for the world championships.  Plamen Ivanov, the four seat, trekked 5,600 miles from Florida to Bulgaria to do the same thing.  As did five-seat Spencer Freeman, except he journeyed a mere 2,300 miles to Calgary.  (How these four originally landed at FIT is a another story for another day.)  The remaining oarsmen — Alec Bertossa (bow), Troy Toggweiler (2 seat), Frank Campione (3 seat) and David Crooke (6 seat), along with coxswain Casey Dalal — went back to Melbourne, Fla., to train together in small boats — first as a four, then as pairs and singles when individuals were absent.

“We were scattered all over,” said Campione, a sophomore from Sebastian, Fla.

Now, remember, FIT’s season was supposed to be over in Mid-May.  “See ya next year.”  It was done.

Except it wasn’t.  Not long after Dad Vail, Granger received a call from Jack Galloway, chairman of the Aberdeen Dad Vail Regatta Organizing Committee.  Everything changed immediately.  Galloway asked Granger if FIT would accept sponsorship from Dad Vail and Aberdeen Asset Management to go represent the regatta at the Royal Henley Regatta.

There was little hesitation.  Granger said yes, worked his way through mountains of logistical obstacles (there are many when half the boat is scattered across the globe), and just like that, Florida Tech was heading to Henley.

Thus, that first row in Windsor was a reunion of sorts.  The entire team had arrived in England and was suddenly a team again.  For eight months, FIT’s varsity eight trained together, practiced together, worked out together and traveled ... together.  What effects would a month away have?  The time apart created uncertainty — the ensuing pressure of Henley fostered it.  Nobody imagined they’d be in Windsor, sitting in a shell outside Eton Excelsior Rowing Club, preparing to compete a half hour away at the Royal Henley Regatta.  

It was a twisting, turning, spinning, swerving, jet-setting month that unfolded for FIT.

“I really didn’t know what to expect when we got back together,” said Ivanov, the Bulgarian sophomore.

The first row was shaky.  It lacked cohesion, but there were some positives.  The second was different.  Everything started to come together.  With every stroke, the crew clicked.  Like a rubik’s cube slowly producing solid sides, the FIT boat took shape.  The next practice was even better.  The next, better yet.

The crew began to realize that something peculiar was happening.  Built to peak in mid-May, Florida Tech had inexplicably reached its pinnacle in June, while in a different country, after a month apart.  It didn’t add up, but on the River Thames, the crew hit speeds it never touched back in the states.

“We were worried about coming back together and feeling comfortable again, but within 30 or 40 minutes we felt like we did before,” said Crooke, a junior from Dayton, Ohio.  “It was a pleasant surprise.”

“Our coach is a little confused as to why we’re doing so well,” added Toggweiler, a sophomore from Longwood, Fla.  “We’re rowing better than we have all year.  We came back better than ever.”

Forget confusion.  Granger is just relieved. 

“I just thought, ‘Wow, alright then,’” Granger said.  “We expected to just start with drills, but they looked really good so we started upping their stroke rates and they looked really comfortable.”  

Now, with a resounding answer to unnerving uncertainty, FIT will move forward in its pursuit of the Temple Challenge Cup at the Royal Henley Regatta on Wednesday morning.  No one is quite sure why the boat is moving faster, but as Campione said, “That’s not something I’m even going to question.  We’re just going with it.”  

All that needs to be said is that the second-place finish at Dad Vail still stings, but a new opportunity has arisen.  There’s nothing to question about that.

“It’s a second chance to do something special,” Ivanov concluded.  “You don’t get that very often.”

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