Hun graduates to row in Athens
By: Bob Nuse
Jason Read and Paul Teti were teammates on the crew team at The Hun School.
They’ve been teammates on the Junior National team and the U.S. National team as well. And now, the Hun School graduates can add another team to that list the United States Olympic team.
"We rowed on the Junior National team together and we rowed together at Hun and won the Stotesbury Cup by 15 seconds my senior year," recalled Read, who like Teti graduated from Hun in 1996. "Paul played a very large role in us being able to do that at Hun. He was fortunate enough to make the Olympic team in 2000 and he did a great job. He’s one of my best friends and I’m happy to be his teammate again."
Both Teti and Read are thrilled to have the opportunity to represent the United States on the World’s biggest stage. For Teti, it will be a second straight appearance in the Olympics. He will be a part of the men’s lightweight four along with Steve Warner, Pat Todd and Matt Smith that will face the crews of Ireland, Australia and Russia in the third of three heats Sunday. He’s glad to be heading back again, and also happy to have his old high school friend along.
"Jason and I rowed together on the junior national team in 1995," Teti said. "Then we were together on the Hun team in the spring of ’96. He went to Temple and I went to Princeton, but we both have had national team involvement. So we’ve been rowing together in national boats, college boats and high school boats for almost 10 years. Our mothers actually traveled together to the World Championships in Milan."
For Read, earning his spot in the men’s eight ends four years of hard work after narrowly missing out on a spot on the 2000 Olympic team. This time, it will be much easier for him to watch the Olympics.
"I remember in 2000, I was sitting with some friends watching the opening ceremonies and it was hard to watch," said Read, who graduated from Temple University. "I was so proud of the guys on the team and I was excited to see them there. The camera was on them for what seemed like a long time and I saw all the guys I trained with and looked up to through college. I had to excuse myself and leave the room because even though I was happy for them, I wanted to be there and be a part of those ceremonies.
"I told myself right then that I was going to do whatever was necessary and that no matter what it takes, I was going to be on the next Olympic team."
Read’s men’s eight boat faces Canada, Italy and Great Britain in the second of two heats Sunday. Canada is the two-time defending world champion.
Teti, a Philadelphia-area native, came to Hun for his senior year and hasn’t left Princeton since. He attended Princeton University, where he rowed for his older brother Mike, who is the U.S. men’s team coach, and stayed in town after graduation.
"I went to Hun for one year and haven’t left since," Teti said. "I graduated in 1996 and went straight to Princeton. I took a year off from school for the Sydney Olympics and came back and graduated in ’01. I’ve been here in Princeton ever since. When I graduated from college I went to work for McMaster-Carr. I took that year off from international competition and came back again in ’02.
"It’s a great place to train and an even better place to live. My older brother has been at Princeton since the mid-80s. I guess I’ve always been a Lake or Boathouse rat."
Both Read and Teti appreciate being able to train in what has become their hometown. It has made the years of hard work all the more enjoyable. And they appreciate everything the Princeton community has done for them over the years.
"It’s really been amazing what has happened since the national team came here in ’97," Teti said. "I think the community exposure has been great for the sport. You see kids from all the different schools training out at Mercer Lake. There are more kids going to the camps and it has become more and more popular. It’s great that we’re able to bring exposure to the sport and give them a chance to participate. It’s great for rowing and for the Princeton community."
"I think because of the Olympic Training Center being here the sport gets more publicized," Read added. "The people who make up the team are very dynamic. I also think having the Lake Mercer facility because of the efforts of Finn Casperson has really helped get the sport into more of the public schools in the area like West Windsor and Hopewell and Hamilton. It’s great to see that kind of growth."
Read, Teti and the rest of the Olympic rowers left town two week ago and trained in Bulgaria through Monday then headed to Athens. They’re certainly looking forward to putting on the best show they can for the America fans.
"Right now, the morale-o-meter is very high," said Read, who works part-time at Capital Health and is also Chief of Operations for the Amwell Valley Rescue Squad. "The outpouring of support that I’ve received has been great. The mayor of East Amwell gave me a proclamation last week for my rescue work and for making the team. I got a very nice note from Dr. (Jim) Byer at Hun. He’s been very supportive of me every step of the way."
And now, they get a chance to see the end result of all of the years of hard work and training.
"For us, it’s all about the Olympic Games," Teti said. "The training we do is not just for this year, but really a four-year period. Everyone is here for the same thing and this is the culmination of all the work that we have put into it. It’s a muscular endurance sport and you have to put in hours and hours of training for a six-minute race. It seems odd, but that’s the way it is and it’s a necessary evil."
An evil they’re more than happy to live with. After all, Teti and Read realize rowing has opened doors for them and given them opportunities they may never have otherwise enjoyed.
"It just so happens that the top rowing schools also happen to be some of the top Universities," Teti said. "It allows athletics to provide you with opportunities that might not have been there. That was true for me. I would never have been exposed to a place like Princeton without rowing. It provides kids with an opportunity that they might not have had.
"Now we’re getting more rowers from schools like West Windsor-Plainsboro and some of the other local schools."
Eventually, those young rowers may find themselves in the same position as Read and Teti, representing the United States on the biggest stage.