Junior Year Lightweights
In the spring of 1962 the Varsity Lightweight Crew won the nationals; actually, it was in the era before electronic timers, and they called it a three-way tie with Cornell and the Naval Academy. The tradition in rowing is that the losing crews sacrifice their rowing shirts to the victors. Here we are wearing our shirts from Harvard, Yale, Penn, etc. This was the crew that MIT sent to the Henley Royal Regatta in England that summer to compete for the Thames Challenge Cup. This was the only time the varsity lights have been first at the Sprints since the famous '55 and '56 crews.
That, of course, was our Junior year, but three members of the Class of '63 were on
that crew. I'll highlight these in bold. By the way, for an event of the magnitude
of Henley, eight oarsmen, coxswain (me), and two spares made the trip. The spares
are the two guys to my left and right.
.jpg)
Second row, left to right: Mark Barron ('64); Charles Bruggemann ('62); Dennis
Buss ('63); Jerry Manning ('62) (Captain); Herb Herrmann ('64); George Zimmerman
('62); Steve Richards ('64); Rick Metzinger ('63).
Front row: Roger Rowe ('62); Bob Vernon ('63); Tommy Joe Alexander ('62)
Bob Vernon
-
 tri-chmps.jpg)
This picture is of the same people, with the addition of Coach Gary Zwart.
.jpg)