This poster features the Class of 1976 heavyweight freshman crew: Tom Craig, Rick Jensen, Ray Batten, Tom Mitchell, and Howard Brickman, bow to stern. (Two other ’76 freshmen would also sometimes row as a pair: Bill Katen-Narvell, later president of PURA, and Jan Stoeckenius.) The recruit-seeking poster went up all over campus in fall ’73 but became notorious after the heavyweight rowing coach put one on the front of the Alexander Hall podium just before President Bowen’s address to the incoming Class of 1977, where unbeknownst to the president it hung prominently throughout his remarks. Bowen apparently was furious when he found out!
The final competition for this crew was the Dad Vail Regatta in Philadelphia, where (despite being freshmen) they raced in the varsity competition and won their preliminary race handily. Unfortunately, catastrophe struck in the finals: They got tangled with a stake boat anchor rope at the start, which ultimately broke their rudder. Despite not being able to steer, the crew only lost by 0.2 seconds (while an announcer could be heard saying that a stake boat was drifting loose downstream). Rick recalls, “It was sort of a tragedy for us, because we were so focused on doing our best, and our crew was so good. We could beat the varsity crew in 500 meters.”
Rick explains that his intense expression in the photo stems from having gotten a leg cramp at the exact moment the photograph was taken. The poster is now a Jensen family treasure.
Editor’s note: Both writers are alumni of the Princeton rowing teams.
This poster features the Class of 1976 heavyweight freshman crew: Tom Craig, Rick Jensen, Ray Batten, Tom Mitchell, and Howard Brickman, bow to stern. (Two other ’76 freshmen would also sometimes row as a pair: Bill Katen-Narvell, later president of PURA, and Jan Stoeckenius.) The recruit-seeking poster went up all over campus in fall ’73 but became notorious after the heavyweight rowing coach put one on the front of the Alexander Hall podium just before President Bowen’s address to the incoming Class of 1977, where unbeknownst to the president it hung prominently throughout his remarks. Bowen apparently was furious when he found out!
The final competition for this crew was the Dad Vail Regatta in Philadelphia, where (despite being freshmen) they raced in the varsity competition and won their preliminary race handily. Unfortunately, catastrophe struck in the finals: They got tangled with a stake boat anchor rope at the start, which ultimately broke their rudder. Despite not being able to steer, the crew only lost by 0.2 seconds (while an announcer could be heard saying that a stake boat was drifting loose downstream). Rick recalls, “It was sort of a tragedy for us, because we were so focused on doing our best, and our crew was so good. We could beat the varsity crew in 500 meters.”
Rick explains that his intense expression in the photo stems from having gotten a leg cramp at the exact moment the photograph was taken. The poster is now a Jensen family treasure.
Editor’s note: Both writers are alumni of the Princeton rowing teams.