THE UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON DYNASTY “Rowers were taught the Cornell rowing techniques developed by Coach Charles Courtney1554 which dominated East Coast rowing. Odell brought to the shores of Lake Washington his experiences learned rowing on Cayuga Lake under the ‘Old Man.’ “An article on Washington rowing later reported that Washington’s crew program ‘started’ under Mark Odell, and Odell’s obituary said that he ‘organized a rowing club which was instrumental in establishing rowing at the University of Washing- ton.’1555”1556 Hiram Conibear, Physical Education Professional Hiram Boardman Conibear (1871- 1917), destined to play a major role in rowing history, was born in Illinois in 1871 to middle-class immigrants from England. In his youth, he had excelled in sports, but after high school, at his father’s urging he reluctantly entered a business college in Dixon, Illinois. Finding this not to his liking, he eventually got permission from his father to leave school and “enter the employ of the Ide Manufacturing Company of Peoria. fine watch-repairing machinery, had entered the bicycle field. “This concern, formerly producers of In 1891, it was 1554 See Chapter 31 ff. 1555 Evans, Walter, Hiram Conibear: Revolutionizer of Crew Racing, Bicentennial Biographies, Seattle Post Intelligencer, spring 1976; Mark Odell, Insuranceman, Succumbs, Seattle Times, June 26, 1963 1556 Lundin, p. 28 University of Washington Archives, Conibear Shellhouse Connie maintaining a racing team of bicycle riders who traveled about the country entering bicycle races, which were popular in the ‘90s. Conibear soon was assigned to this group of riders and a little later was himself given charge of training and managing them. “Later, he helped develop the great ‘Stearns’ team of riders. The trainer of this group of athletes was a Dave Shaffer, who, at the time, had no small reputation as a handler and developer of men, and he passed on to young Conibear much of his lore.”1557 By 1896, Conibear had chosen a relatively new career goal: university-level physical education professional, and for the following decade he relentlessly and methodically pursued his objective. There being few phys-ed programs to follow at major universities in those days, Conibear had to prepare himself mostly through on- the-job training. That year, he became the trainer for the track and football teams at the University of 1557 Beck, Ch. V, p. 3 419
