Time & Again: The Boys, Girls, and Seniors in Vashon’s Boats

Published 1:30 am Wednesday, December 27, 2023

Editor’s note: This is an updated version of 2018’s “Time and Again” column on Vashon rowers from “The Boys in the Boat,” with new perspective and modern Vashon rowers in time for the release of the “Boys in the Boat” film.

On January 5, the film “Boys in the Boat” will open at the Vashon Theatre.

Based on Daniel James Brown’s book of the same name published in 2014 and subtitled “Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics,” the film recounts the story of the University of Washington’s men’s eight rowers in the 1936 Berlin Olympics and their coaches, Al Ulbrickson and Tom Bolles.

The gold medals awarded to this mixed lot of American immigrants in the crew races — sons of Pacific Northwest loggers, farmers, and laborers — and the victory of Jesse Owens on the track in Berlin, helped expose the lie of Hitler’s Aryan supremacy ideology.

While no Vashon rowers were part of the “Boys in the Boat” crew, Vashon has had a long tradition of rowing, and in the past 30 years has developed a reputation for producing exceptional rowers.

In the 1930s, rowing alongside the Boys in the Boat crew were two Vashon islanders: Don Canfield, who was a freshman in 1934, rowing number 7 in the first-year boat, and Harold Agren, who was a freshman in 1935 and rowed stroke for the lightweight Husky eight.

Don rowed in the men’s four at the American Olympic Trials held on the Hudson River at Poughkeepsie in June 1936, but the shell was defeated by the Riverside Club of New York, finishing less than a boat length behind and losing the opportunity to go to Berlin.

Don would go on to row in the men’s eight at the University of Washington in the following years, lettering in rowing in 1939.

Harold Agren rowed lightweight eights for the Huskies in 1935 and 1936, sitting in the stroke seat, which is one of the most important seats in the shell, since the stroke oarsman sets the swing and cadence of the boat under the call of the coxswain.

He was in the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) and was called to active duty in May 1941. He served the Philippines and was imprisoned as a prisoner of war, where he died. His family donated land to the Vashon community that is now Harold Agren Memorial Park.

Today, the Vashon Island Rowing Club (VIRC) and the Burton Beach Rowing Club (BBRC) keep the rowing spirit of Don Canfield and Harold Agren alive.

The VIRC was originally founded as the Vashon Women’s Rowing Club in 1990 by a small, intrepid group of women led by Celia Congdon. The club eventually allowed spouses to join and was re-christened the Vashon Island Rowing Club in 1995. The club added a junior program in 1996.

The Burton Beach Rowing Club was formed in 2018 to develop a highly competitive junior rowing program. With both clubs located at points on the Burton Peninsula, VIRC at Jensen Point and BBRC at Camp Burton, Quartermaster Harbor has become the envy of rowing clubs throughout the Pacific Northwest because the shells can easily pivot to practice on calm water no matter which direction the wind is blowing.

Rowing is healthy and growing on Vashon. This is an expansive time for all levels of rowing with VIRC having about 50 junior rowers and nearly 80 senior rowers, while BBRC has about 25 junior rowers.

The coaching teams at both VIRC (Delaney and Ben Steele, Aidan Teachout, and Tara Morgan) and BBRC (Richard Parr) are, or have been, dedicated rowers themselves and bring extensive backgrounds and skills to the island rowing community.

Two notable Vashon rowers in recent years are Mia Crooquist Brenno and Jacob Pihal.

Mia, a Vashon native, is arguably the most successful Vashon female junior rower, having won a gold and two silvers at Junior Worlds, a silver and bronze at Junior Nationals, and two golds at the 2015 U-23 World championships in the US women’s eight and four.

She went on to a notable rowing performance at the University of California Berkeley, winning the Women’s 2018 Varsity Eight NCAA National Championship her senior year before returning to the Pacific Northwest.

Jacob Pihal, another Islander, is still developing his reputation as an exceptional international rower. He recently won silver in the men’s singles and gold in the mixed eight at the 2023 Pan American Games and was team captain at Northeastern University in 2016.

He rows competitively in both international and national events and is likely headed to the 2024 Olympics as part of the United States rowing team.

The emphasis of both clubs is not only on the competitive aspects of rowing. Rowing on Vashon provides a competitive outlet but also provides recreational access to great exercise in a wonderful marine environment populated with seals, herons, eagles and an occasional whale.

Our small island of 11,000 residents has developed a national reputation in the world of rowing.

Bruce Haulman is an island historian. Terry Donnelly is an island photographer.