Making The Crew Cut Gu’s Grothkopp Hopes To Join Sport’s Elite, Just Like Michini

The basic foundation is there, a sturdy 6-foot-6, 220-pound frame. But does Gonzaga University rower Chris Grothkopp have the soul to go along with the stroke?

“I’d like to row at a national camp,” Grothkopp said Saturday morning during the Bulldogs’ spring regatta at Long Lake. “Pro-elite training at a camp in D.C., or Pennsylvania or somewhere in the South.”

Grothkopp, a junior, already has leaped into GU’s elite class after just two-plus years of rowing. A graduate of Eastside Catholic in Bellevue, Grothkopp said he took up rowing “mostly to stay in shape.” He sits in the boat’s sixth seat, one which is reserved for the bigger, more powerful rowers.

On the ergometer, an apparatus used for measuring performances, Grothkopp has clocked a time of 6 minutes, 8.1 seconds in the 2,000-meter drill. His best 6,000-meter time has been 19:52.4. Both are the fastest in Gonzaga history.

“Chris has put himself up a little higher than the others on the team,” third-year Gonzaga coach Dan Gehn said. “He has all the pieces to the puzzle. It’s going to be up to him to see if he can glue them together.”

Saturday, Grothkopp and his teammates easily defeated Washington State in the eight-with-coxswain varsity race. The Bulldogs finished the 2,000-meter course in 6:28.54.

The Cougars, rowing without three top athletes because of disciplinary action, finished in 6:53.20. WSU coach Ernie Iseminger said he pulled the three because they were late for practice.

Western Washington, originally scheduled to fill out the three-school field, was a no-show because of the possibility of bad road conditions.

Had the Vikings made it, they would have been greeted by about 250 spectators, including 1996 Olympic rower Monica Tranel Michini. The 1988 Gonzaga graduate was the featured speaker at Gonzaga’s crew banquet Saturday night.

“It felt really sweet out there today,” Grothkopp said. “We had a great warmup. We felt solid.”

The Bulldogs also won the men’s varsity four, women’s varsity eight, men’s freshmen “B” and men’s JV eight races. The Cougars finished first in the women’s novice “A,” men’s freshmen “A,” women’s novice “B,” and women’s varsity four.

It was the first time in 12 years that Gonzaga’s varsity eight women defeated Washington State.

The varsity wins qualified those crews for the May 3 opening day regatta in Seattle. This will be the second time Grothkopp will compete in the annual event, one that attracts more than 20 schools along with thousands of spectators.

But it might only be the beginning for the 21-year-old athlete who grew up on basketball, soccer, baseball and hockey.

“Chris has not quite reached his potential,” Gehn said. “But he’s definitely nearing the national team.

“He’s got to get out of here where he can get some different aspects of rowing.”

Perhaps like Michini, whose eight-woman team finished fourth in Atlanta. Michini, an attorney, said she still trains twice a day and hopes to compete in the 2000 Sydney Olympics. She and her husband are planning to move from Philadelphia to Missoula in September.

“The realization is there is no magic to pursuing the dream,” Michini said. “It’s hard work. You wake up in the morning, and you practice.”

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