As the stroke of the Big Green heavyweight crew's first freshman eight, Max Holds '96, along with his teammates, recorded six wins and two losses during the regular season and finished seventh at the Eastern Sprints Championships. But before he matriculated at Dartmouth, Holds represented Argentina in the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona, Spain.
A rower for only four years, the 22-year-old Holds learned to row a single scull after graduating from high school at a small rowing club near his hometown of Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Sculling is different from sweep rowing in that scullers use two oars while sweep rowers use just one. The oars used for sweep rowing are larger than sculling oars. The Big Green compete exclusively in the sweep category.
For one and a half years after high school, Holds studied business in Argentina but quit because he didn't like the education system. At this point, he began to think about studying in the United States and his rowing career took off.
Holds competed in his first race in March 1989. By the end of the year he was competing in the South American Junior Championships. In 1990, he picked up a title in the under-22 single category.
In 1991, he began to dedicate nearly all his time to rowing, teaching on the side to support his rowing. A training camp in Mexico that spring was Holds's first experience with international competition, where he finished sixth.
After Mexico, Holds and another rower, Guillermo Pfaab, started training in the double sculls, a boat for two rowers with two oars each, and competed in the 1991 Pan-Am games, winning a bronze medal in that event.
"It was all very sudden," Holds said of his success. "We raced the fall season in Argentina, and trained for the Olympic Trials. Argentina was sending a double scull and a coxed pair, and we won the double scull."
"The year before the Olympics, we knew we would go," he added. "There was no one else who was close to us."
Holds and Pfaab went to Germany after the trials to train and row for a month.
"Some of our races there were tougher than the Olympics," he said. "There were 10 boats and four were very good. It was great preparation."
The two returned home briefly for a last minute tune-up and then went to the Olympics.
In Barcelona, Holds and Pfaab finished third in the repechage, which ended their bid for a medal. All boats race in the heats where the winner qualifies for the semi-finals. The other boats race in the repechage where the first and second place finishers move into the semi-finals.
"It was disappointing because we though we could do better," he said, "but qualifying was the thrill of a lifetime."
"Once you're there, you really want to well," he added. "But it's great to just be there and race against the best in the world."
After the Olympics, Holds returned home and in September, became a member of the Class of 1996. Holds knew he wanted to attend an Ivy League school because "they are the best in rowing and academics."
One of the many adjustments Holds faced was the change to sweep rowing because he had no experience with sweep events before Dartmouth..
"I didn't know what to expect," he said. "I had never rowed in an eight, only a single or a double. At first, I thought we'd never be able to set the boat up but I'm astounded at the speed everyone learned to row."
His teammates praised Holds's own effort during the year.
"With Max, the guys feel that they are good enough to compete against nearly insurmountable odds," coxswain Gabe Schlumberger '96 said. "Max has given them the feeling that they can get out there and run with the big dogs. He has become our personal icon of sorts."
"At the beginning of the season, everyone saw him, his erg times, his muscles, and said 'yeah, well he was in the Olympics and there is no way that I can compete with that.' He became much more human, rather than just Max the Olympian, he is now just Max, our Olympian."
Although Holds can claim such a distinguished rowing career, the seven other rowers in the first boat have worked just as hard, without the glory that the Olympics bring.
"He's set the standard for the guys," freshman coach Max Borghard said. "They have respect for him and he has respect for them. When he says something, people listen and they really look up to him."
"I'm definitely psyched about rowing here," Holds said. "An eight is quite different but it's a great feeling because it's more of a team sport. I'm used to a single where everything's on your own."
Because all schools in the Eastern Association of Rowing Colleges compete in sweep events, Holds would have to return home to Argentina if he wants to continue sculling. The 1996 Olympics in Atlanta are still an option but he would have to take his entire senior year off and then come back to finish his degree.
As for his rowing ambitions here, Holds sets high goals: "To win Sprints, win National, win Henley, and then win an Olympic medal."
