Henley Royal Regatta: On to Henley for Pirates

Steve Virgen

COSTA MESA - Sierra Caldwell, Stuart Blair, Chris Pope, Matt

Hietbrink, Gints Salaks, Brian Scheele, Jesse Waldowski, Alan Twigg and

Mike Krueger typify America, and especially Orange Coast College. They

all come from different walks of life, a melting pot of humor,

athleticism and determination. When they come together for a cause and

spare the individuality, the collective effort has resulted in

extraordinary success for the OCC crew program.

The Pirates’ varsity eight and Caldwell, the coxswain, will compete in

the prestigious Henley Royal Regatta on the Thames River in England, July

3-7. They are leaving Tuesday and will compete to qualify on Friday.

“We have never taken a crew that’s been this good to Henley,” said OCC

Coach Dave Grant, who also mentioned this will be OCC’s eighth appearance

in the Henley. “If you win the opening race, you go on. You lose? You’re

out. It’s pretty ruthless. There are two worlds there (at the Henley),

one with well-dressed and elegance and all the glitter that goes with the

event. But on the water, it’s very cutthroat and competitive. It’s very

intense. You have to be careful to not mix those two worlds up.”

OCC is one of 57 crews in the Temple Challenge Cup of the Henley Royal

Regatta. The field will be reduced to 32 after the qualifying races. The

Temple Challenge Cup is basically a regatta of the elite of universities

and colleges. The Pirates crew is the only community college crew in the

U.S. and it will go up against the likes of crew powerhouses Harvard,

Yale and Colgate.

If the Pirates advances past the qualifier, a feat in itself, they

will then enter the round-of-32 format and race two-on-two, until there

are two crews remaining. The races include a 2,300-meter course, and the

Pirates will be without their usual boat, the Rob Jordan.

Part of the competition process leads crews to find their own boat

upon arrival.

“They don’t make it easy for you to win at Henley,” Grant said.

However, the Pirates are prepared for the challenge ahead because of

their remarkable season. They went undefeated in California competitions

and finished the season sixth in the nation at the Avaya Championships,

May 11 and 12, at West Windsor, N.J. They won the Pacific Coast

Championships in Sacramento May 5, and the San Diego Crew Classic April

7.

In addition, this has been a special season for the Pirates because

this is Grant’s final season as head coach after 38 seasons. The Pirates

are also dedicating their season to Brian Sweet, an OCC crew member who

died after collapsing during a workout last summer at OCC’s LeBard

Stadium, and Rob Jordan, the 1989 crew captain who was a broker for

Cantor Fitzgerald on the 104th floor of the World Trade Center and died

from the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11.

“They are a very fast crew, and a great group of people; they love to

race, and that’s a good combination,” Grant said of his crew.

“Fundamentally, they are very good athletes. They also have a very good

sense of humor. They can laugh easily. They don’t get uptight. It’s

pretty impressive, if you think about it: They tolerate each other and

they like each other, considering they are together all the time.”

The differences among the OCC varsity eight range from Salaks, who is

from Latvia, to Blair, who graduated from Corona del Mar High after

spending most of his childhood in South Africa.

“Everyone is pretty unique in their own little way,” said Pope, who

found Sweet after he collapsed, as the two were training together. “For

me, this year has been extra special. My friend passed away, and with the

dedication to Rob Jordan and the boathouse being dedicated to Dave, we’ve

appreciated one another even more. It’s good that we’ve had such an

outstanding season this year.”

There’s also a light side to Pope, the team co-captain, this season.

“If there was a class clown of the boat that would be Pope,” Caldwell

said.

Caldwell is a Newport Harbor product who used to row with Corona del

Mar product Matt Hietbrink at the Newport Aquatic Center. Waldowski and

Pope are also Newport Harbor products, while Krueger is from Foothill

High and Twigg is from Oregon. Scheele, the co-captain, is from

Washington.