NEW LONDON, Conn. — 

Last weekend, at the annual Rowing Coaches Conference in Saratoga Springs, New York, Bill Stowe was inducted into the Intercollegiate Rowing Coaches Association Hall of Fame. I had the honor of providing a write-up and telling one or two "Stowe Stories" as part of the induction.

Anyone who ever met Bill Stowe has a "Stowe Story." I have heard hundreds, and some are more repeatable than others. I was fortunate enough to first meet Bill while learning to scull at Blood Street Sculls, and I followed him to CGA.

In 1971, Bill was the right coach at the right time at the Coast Guard Academy. He was larger than life, an Olympic gold medalist and one of the best rowers of his generation. He was already an established coach who came to CGA from Columbia to start the rowing program, not in small part because of the urging of Fred Emerson, who worked with Otto Graham, the Athletics Director at CGA at the time.

As I have always heard the story, in early February of 1971 there was an announcement that CGA would be starting a rowing program. When Stowe arrived at the meeting, there were more potential rowers than he thought he could deal with. He decided the way he would reduce the number of prospective rowers was to give a fire and brimstone speech about how hard rowing was, the misery of the cold wet rows that awaited them on the Thames, the early mornings, etc.

Not one cadet left the meeting. But, as Stowe himself was leaving, two new cadets came up to him and said they had heard part of the speech and wanted to know if they could join, too.

The first team literally broke ice to start rowing in February of 1971. I have the pictures to prove it — wooden boats launched from Red Top, Harvard's training facility on the Thames, with ice clearly visible. It was definitely not "safety first," but it was okay since they all knew how to swim. After those first rows, they traveled to Florida in March for Spring Break and won their first race. The program was off and running.

In it's second year, CGA shocked almost everyone by winning the Dad Vails. Over the next ten years from, 1973 to 1982, CGA won eight Dad Vail Championships, including six in a row from 1975 to 1980. The victories in the 1V were complemented by three victories by the varsity lightweights and numerous JV and freshman victories, resulting in nine team trophies.

Under Stowe's tutelage, CGA raced against some of the best Division I teams in the country — I myself had a racing shirt that said "Beat Navy!" — and made the finals in the V8 race at IRAs in 1975; won the Straight 4 and coxed four events at IRAs; and rowed in races across the United States, at the Royal Henley Regatta in England, and even in Egypt.

In short, Bill Stowe oversaw the most successful period CGA rowing has ever had. He led the program from 1971 to 1985 and he left a legacy that includes two rowers who went on to race for the U.S. National team; rowers that went on to become Coast Guard heroes; several successful rowing coaches, including Steve Hargis '80 and Bill Zack; and Dave Trond '82, the CEO of the Vespoli USA racing shell company.

I never quite figured out the magic of Bill Stowe. He kept the stroke simple. He believed in hard strokes. He made the rowers believe.

And with that belief came success.

About the author: William "Bill" Randall is the current Head Men's Rowing Coach at the United States Coast Guard Academy. Bill is also a 1982 graduate of CGA, and was a rower and mentee of Stowe's when they crossed paths during Randall's days as a cadet-athlete. Bill was the stroke for CGA's 1981 Dad Vail Regatta-winning V8 boat and a member of the 1987 U.S. National Team, as well as a good friend of Stowe's throughout the years.