Last weekend at the C.R.A.S.H.-B World Indoor Rowing Championships in Boston, John Hertzer '04 took first place in the collegiate men's lightweight division with a time of 6:17.7 for 2,000m. His time also placed him in 6th place overall in lightweights.
The C.R.A.S.H.-B sprints are an annual event sponsored by Concept II, which gives competitors from all over the world a chance to pit their bodies and minds against one another for 2,000 meters, while all the rivers and lakes are still frozen. It is essentially the only opportunity that rowers have for high-level competition during the winter season. Hertzer said that winning this event was "greatest individual accomplishment with respect to rowing."
"I owe a great debt to all of my friends from Dartmouth who were there racing with me and who cheered me on," Hertzer said. "Having people in front of me during the race, as well as cheering from behind was crucial in my success. Knowing that I had the support of not only my fellow lightweights but also the heavyweights and the women was a big help in the middle of the race. It was also nice that the announcer who was calling the race was Kurt Somerville '79, one of the few Dartmouth Olympians out there."
This is not the first exceptional performance by Hertzer this season. Earlier this winter, he pulled times of 19:57.8 for 6000m and 12:59.5 for 4000m. "From early January, it has been clear that John was rowing at an exceptional level," said Lightweight Crew Coach Dick Grossman. "In every workout that involved multiple race pieces, John's slowest has often been faster than anyone else's fastest. By early February, his times were approaching several of our team records, all of which had been set by national team members. Then in a one week period in mid-February, he broke all of those records. So it came as no surprise when he won the college lightweight division of the World Indoor Rowing Championships."
Hertzer's outstanding rowing this year solidifies his position as one of the leading collegiate rowers in the country, and his 2000m and 6000m times qualify him for participation in the Elite Lightweight division of the United States National Team selection camp this summer.
"I'm hoping to attend National Team selection camp this summer, and from there my goal is to make the team and go to Worlds which are in Spain this year," said Hertzer. "Those are my two personal goals for this year, but more importantly I want to win races and do well at the Eastern Sprints with the Dartmouth rowing team this spring. The CRASH-B sprints is an excellent individual competition, but pales in comparison to how much I value racing with my friends for the Big Green."
Among many other Dartmouth rowers participating in the C.R.A.S.H.-B sprints, some notable performances were Matt Muffelman '03, who took 13th overall in the lightweight division with a time of 6:23.5, and Kate Davison '07, who took 10th overall in the open women's division with a time of 7:00.4.
