The 85th anniversary of The "Boys in the Boat" - 1936 Olympic Champions and the "Great Eight of '78"- 1978 Philadelphia City Champions reunion!

In celebration of the 85th anniversary of The "Boys in the Boat" (1936 Olympic Gold Medal Champions)... The "Great Eight of '78" (1978 Philadelphia City Champions) just held a reunion!

85 years ago in August of 1936, an unlikely quest began in the Pacific Northwest.

In the 1930s, the United States was in the grips of the Great Depression. A huge chunk of America’s population was unemployed; industry and agriculture were in ruins. While most folks today don't know it, during the 1930s, rowing was one of the most popular sports in the country - almost as popular as baseball.

Around the same time, across the Atlantic, Adolf Hitler rose to power in Germany. Based on the advice of his Minister of Propaganda, Joseph Goebbels, Hitler realized that he could score a major public relations victory by hosting the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin. The plan being that in so doing he would give his Third Reich the image of being a benevolent, enlightened state despite its murderous treatment of “non-Aryans” and its plans for war and domination in Europe.

In the U.S., the country’s best crew programs were based out of East Coast colleges such as Harvard, Yale, Princeton and Penn. On the other side of the country, with a team composed of the sons of loggers, shipyard workers, and farmers, the University of Washington’s eight-oar crew team would never be expected to defeat the elite teams of the East Coast and Great Britain.

BUT... with "grit and determination" the "Boys in the Boat" shocked the world by defeating all comers - including the German team rowing for Hitler. 

When coupled with American Track Star Jesse Owens' FOUR Gold Medals, the Americans also dealt a powerful blow to Hitler’s pseudoscientific theories of Nazi superiority, prophesizing Hitler’s eventual defeat in World War Two.

43 years ago (May of 1978), a somewhat similar quest began in Philadelphia. When it was over, the Philadelphia Bulletin's Headline read “Father Judge’s Crew is Hardly Motley!" The headline was accompanied by the picture below of the newly crowned Philadelphia Scholastic Rowing Association’s City Champions.

(L to R) Coxswain Ken D'Aurizio (partially obscured) Stroke/Joe Adler, 7/Paul McBride, 6/John Gentile, 5/Butch Boston, 4/ Kevin Cauley, 3/Tom Neczypor, 2/Tom Kowalik and Bow man John Hopkins.  Philadelphia, May, 1978

The City Championship win was the culmination of an “almost” perfect rowing season that Spring on the Schuykill River.

The winning ways actually began in the Fall of '77 when Father Judge's Heavyweight Eight arguably won the Head of the Charles on Boston’s “straight course.” Father Judge set the course record for the "Charles" back in 1971 and has always performed well on one of the most tortuous courses in all of rowing.

Judge competed against the "Elite Eights" of the aforementioned Harvard, Yale, Princeton and Penn - as well as a host of prep schools both from the US and Canada. In 1977 there was a dispute over the winning time with several course officials favoring Judge. The official winning time showed a little over a second's difference between Judge and Upper Canada (a 5-year high school).

After heading back to Philadelphia for some grueling winter workouts, the team returned to its "home turf" - the Schuylkill River - in early Spring 1978 poised for success.

Head Coach Phil Roche loved Sylvester Stallone's "dash" up the Philadelphia Art Museum Steps in ROCKY so much, that he adapted it in to our workout with a little "twist"... we ran the steps with one of our teammates on our BACK! Carrying a teammate up those steps was literally a LOAD of fun.

Sylvester Stallone and Butkus take the steps of the Philadelphia Art Museum. (NB: A Philadelphia "Favorite Son" - Michael Sylvester Stallone attended rival High School Abraham Lincoln - just a half mile from Father Judge).

The hardcore workouts paid off immediately once the team hit the water again. Judge's 8 literally "rowed through" the competition taking medals in the individual and cumulative Manny Flick Regattas, The Catholic League Championship and the City Championship. The picture above was taken as we left the Grandstand Dock. If you look very closely, you can see boxes stuffed into our socks. That would be our Gold Medals!

Rowing in a heavyweight eight is the ultimate collaborative team sport in that it requires "9" men (including your coxswain) to give their best individual performance by working together as one boat. The coxswain is the conductor of this orchestral maneuver and knows each member of the boat's strengths and weaknesses - that can lead to sweet music as the medals pile up!

The Author's shadow box of rowing awards from consecutive wins in '77 and '78. Scale Father Judge Oar courtesy of "Boatman Extraordinaire" Tom Neczypor - (three seat in the Great Eight.)

For one shining moment in 1977 and 1978 Father Judge's Varsity Heavyweight Eight did just that... medal after medal, win after win as early Spring gave way to late Spring. 

The ultimate US Rowing Award is given at The National Regatta which was held at Princeton University that Spring. The winner of this Regatta goes on to The Henley Royal Regatta which has been held annually since 1839 on the Thames River in London. Unfortunately, Judge's stroke man, Joe Adler, did not make the age requirement for the US Schoolboy Nationals.

The Heavyweight 8 had to be reconfigured and after several "Challenges" - boat races where individual oarsmen are placed in the boat to test the boat's speed and fit - another teammate, Tim Whelan from our Junior Varsity 8 joined the boat. Unfortunately, the timing of the boat was thrown off and the boat wasn’t able to regain its previous balance. This turn of events, coupled with the fact that the US boats were racing yet another Canadian 5-year high school, did not bode well for Father Judge. The Canadian varsity boats were made up almost exclusively of young men who would be classified as college freshmen in the US. 

That said, Father Judge's "Magic 8" defeated all of its US competition but fell short by half a boat-length to the larger and older Canadian crew. A trip to England was not in the cards as the almost perfect season was not to be. 

Over the years, the “Boys in the Boat” continue to keep in touch. In 2013 they got together for a 35th reunion upon the occasion of Head Coach Phil Roche’s induction into the Father Judge Athletic Hall of Fame. Phil is still an award-winning English teacher at Judge and is still coaching the Judge Crew. In his own words, Phil first entered the halls of Judge in the Fall of 1965 and immediately felt at home. Upon graduation in 1969, he matriculated to St.Joseph’s University. While pursuing his degree, he continued to row at the collegiate level. Upon his graduation from St. Joe’s, he returned to Judge and began his long and storied career. Over the years Phil has impacted over 2,000 young men as they pursued the Salesian Motto “Non-Excidet... He shall not fail."

35th reunion and Induction of Head Coach Phil Roche in to the Father Judge Sports Hall of Fame. May 2013. 

(L to R) Head coach and Hall of Fame Inductee Phil Roche, Coxswain Ken D'Aurizio, Joe Trench (standing in for Stroke/Joe Adler, 7/Paul McBride, 6/John Gentile, 5/Butch Boston, 4/Kevin Cauley, 3/Tony Neczypor (standing in for his brother Tom), 2/Tom Kowalik, Bow Man John Hopkins.  Philadelphia, May, 2013

Just this month (August 2021) in recognition of the original “Boys in the Boat” from 1936 the "Great Eight of '78" got together again. While they have been physically away from the water for many years, in their shared memories they're still "on the water and pulling ahead of the competition" as we head into the final stretch just before the Grandstand.

(L to R) Jim McCullough, (filling in for head coach and Hall of Fame Inductee Phil Roche, Coxswain Ken D'Aurizio, Stroke/Joe Adler, 7/Paul McBride, 6/John Gentile, 5/Butch Boston, 4/Kevin Cauley, 3/Tom Neczypor, 2/Tom Kowalik, Bow Man John Hopkins.  Philadelphia, August, 2021

About the author - Paul McBride is a former Marine, and RVP at ZeOmega Population Health Management Software a leader in Care Management and Medicare Advantage software. He is also the Founder and President of American Military Society Press. You can contact him at pmcbride@amsp1775.com

The author examines a handcrafted oar as made by Tom Neczypor (three seat in the Great Eight) and boatman extraordinaire.

NB: An earlier version of this article originally appeared on the AMSP1775 website in July, 2013.