THE ERA OF POLARIZATION Frinzi / The Oarsman 1979 Yale Heavyweight Varsity Eight Bow Ted Jaroszewicz 6’2” 188cm 185lb. 84kg, 2 Joe Bouscaren 6’3” 191cm 180lb. 82kg, 3 Karl Zinsmeister 6’4” 193cm 193lb. 88kg, 4 Steve Kiesling 6’4” 193cm 200lb. 91kg, 5 Eric Stevens 6’6” 198cm 215lb. 98kg, 6 Andy Messer 6’4” 193cm 215lb. 98kg, 7 Matt Labine 6’7” 201cm 213lb. 97kg, Stroke John Biglow 6’2” 188cm 190lb. 86kg, Coxswain Andy Fisher Woodman7054 were the top, but I scored third or fourth with Charlie Altekruse.7055 I was surprised because I was new on the National Team scene and I beat a number of other successful rowers. “After the erg test, Harry put a heart rate monitor on me in the boat. I think he wondered if I was pulling as hard on the water as I had on the erg because my puddle didn’t look that big to him. (I was kind of proud of that because it meant I rowed cleanly.) “Anyway, I made the eight, and then I got very sick. I was never officially diagnosed with mono, but I think that fits. “I rowed the spare pair and never raced.”7056 At some point in 1979, Biglow herniated a disk in his back which would nag at him for the rest of his rowing career. Biglow: “It occurred while I was on a Concept2 erg during a 30 minute piece with about five minutes to go. An experienced orthopedic surgeon in Boston told me that people sometimes herniate a disc when sitting up in bed or passing the butter. It can 7054 from Oregon State University. 7055 from Harvard. See Chapter 140. 7056 Biglow, op. cit. be due to chronic misuse, poor posture, or genetic factors like a long torso, and it doesn’t become apparent until the last layer of fibrous tissue around the disc ruptures and lets the gel-like cushion out to press on a nerve root.”7057 1980 Biglow: “In 1980, which was my graduating year, we had a good crew at Yale. There were four of us who were trying out for the Olympic Team that year, me, Eric Stevens, Matt Labine and Steve Kiesling, the guy who later wrote The Shell Game.7058 Harry Parker was again the National Coach. At an early-season training camp down in Florida, the four of us decided that if any one of us got cut from this camp, then we would all leave and row in a four in the Trials. “It turned out that Eric and Matt did get cut, while Steve and I did not.7059 I 7057 Biglow, personal correspondence, 2010 7058 For anyone interested in learning more about the special pressures involved in National Team rowing during this era, this book is a must read. 7059 Steve Kiesling: “Matthew, Eric, John, and I could not have agreed in Florida to stick with the Yale Four if any one of us got cut from the 1973
