Fil-Am makes it to world rowing

Manila, Philippines - Using a borrowed WinTech boat, unheralded Fil-Am Philip Henson and Dartmouth University teammate Phil Grisdela of Virginia stroked to a 2.97 second victory over favored University of Wisconsin from the US Rowing Development Camp in the finals of the lightweight men’s pairs on Mercer Lake in West Windsor, New Jersey, recently. The win earned for Henson and Grisdela a ticket to represent the US at the World Under-23 Championships in Amsterdam on July 21-24.

It was an unexpected triumph for the Dartmouth oarsmen, wearing the Riverside Rowing Club colors of Boston. They were teammates on the Big Green eights that recently took third place in the national championships behind Yale and Harvard but had never competed in pairs before. The day before the Mercer Lake finals, Henson and Grisdela placed second to Wisconsin in the time trials which eliminated the University of Michigan crew, sending the four top finishers to the finals.

Henson at stroke and Grisdela at bow took the early lead in the four-way finals but Wisconsin surged ahead in the last 500 meters only to collapse down the stretch. The competition was shown in the internet on live streaming. Henson and Grisdela clocked 6:41.53. Wisconsin’s Lowell McNicholas and Andrew Weiland came in second at 6:44.50. Third was Cascadilla Boat Club’s John Redos and Thomas Davidson at 6:53.68. Christian Klein and Colin Ethridge of Oklahoma City from the US Rowing Training Center settled for fourth at 6:53.85.

Henson and Grisdela are both 6-2 and their arrival on the international rowing platform has brought new interest in the sport. They’re fresh and wholesome faces, good-looking and intelligent. The two Phils have been dubbed the Ernie (for Grisdela) and Bert (for Henson) of the US team bound for Amsterdam.

Henson, 22, was invited by US national team coach Dan Roock to try out for the eights with the goal to qualify for the London Olympics next year. But Henson, a two-time MVP at Dartmouth and an All-Ivy League second team pick this season, said he’ll concentrate on Amsterdam before anything else. The pairs is not an Olympic rowing event. In the men’s lightweight category, the only Olympic events are coxless fours and doubles sculls. In pairs, each rower has a single oar. In the doubles sculls, each rower has two oars. The lightweight class has a weight limit of 160 pounds for men.

Henson, who earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in biomedical engineering at Dartmouth this year, said Riverside coaches Bob Gillette and Judith Vogel helped in securing a boat to borrow for the competition. Grisdela, an incoming Dartmouth senior, had previously rowed at Riverside.

“During the spring season at Dartmouth, we focused on our training with the team but would do extra workouts in a pair whenever we had time,” said Henson whose Filipino father Ramon, a La Salle Manila graduate, teaches at Rutgers University in New Jersey. “Until graduation, we rowed on the Connecticut and on June 13, the day after I graduated, we began training in Boston. We jumped in on a tough training regimen with practice seven days a week, most of them twice a day. That hard work paid off when we came to trials in New Jersey and won the finals.”

The 2,000-meter race started at 8:10 a.m. and when it was all over, Henson, Grisdela and their families celebrated over breakfast at a nearby IHOP restaurant.

Last Thursday, Henson and Grisdela were back in their boat on Mercer Lake, this time to battle veteran pairs in an open race. Once more, they outdid themselves and took the silver in their first foray in the seniors category.

“It’s still sinking in a little bit every day that we made it this far but we know that we had a lot of help getting here,” said Grisdela.

Although they will be representing the US in the World Under-23 Championships, Henson and Grisdela said their trip won’t be entirely sponsored. They’ve got a boat from WinTech but that’s all. They’re hoping to raise $1,700 each through donations, bake sales, lemonade stands and whatever else they can think of. The round-trip air fare alone is $1,200.

Henson’s father Ramon said his son has a few more seconds to trim from his ERG (stroke per minute) rating to qualify as a serious contender for Olympic rowing. “But he’s getting there,” said Ramon. “If he doesn’t make it to the London Olympics, I think he has a great chance of qualifying for the Olympics in 2016 when he’ll be 27, just at his peak. What event he’ll try out for is still up in the air. I’m encouraging Phil to think about rowing for the Philippines, too. His younger sister Emma has dual citizenship and I’m hoping Phil is also able to acquire dual citizenship.”