June of 1988 saw the Freshman Heavyweight Crew wrap up an extremely long season that included fall racing in Boston and New York, January work in Tampa Bay, Spring Break in New York City, and daily practices in between. Follow that with regattas around the northeast through May and then a week training in Kent, Connecticut leading up to the International Rowing Association (IRA) Regatta in Sycracuse in June, the closest thing to a national championship at the time.

The Heavyweight Frosh started in September with over 100 rowers and many coxswains, but was winnowed down to eight oarsmen and one coxswain by the time the IRAs rolled around. Calling that crew a ragtag bunch wouldn't be an overstatement, as more than half were novices who picked up oars for the first time of their lives in September.

After failing to win our first heat on Onondaga Lake, we moved to the repechage heat, clearly underdogs against more established teams. We were able to pull off the race of our lives, at least coming close to the Brown crew in a finish too close to call immediately. After what seemed like forever, we learned that we covered the 2000 meters just 2/10 of a second faster than Brown, qualifying us for the Grand Final the next day.

Given the rough conditions expected for Onondaga Lake on that day, the Final was moved to 6 a.m., which meant that our coach, Joseph O'Connor (known as "Okie") came around and woke us up at 3:30 a.m. and had us doing feared and dreaded "leapies" to get our bodies awake and into the active phase. After a bite to eat, the van ride to the lake, and some warm-ups, we were ready to race.

The crew got off to a quick start, and I remember sensing after 500 meters (the one quarter mark of the race) that we actually had the lead. While we couldn't hold that lead, and we ultimately finished 6th, we achieved more than anyone thought we could and were later awarded a prize for most improved crew (out of about 60) in the conference. Despite an early-morning wake up call, calisthenics, and failing to pull off the true Cinderella story, this last day of crew was the one I'd like to relive of all my great Columbia days, because of everything it symbolized, including friendships, incredibly hard work, and achievement.