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- Alumni Profile: Dan Beery
- Homecoming and Fifty Plus
- A letter to young alumni, young alumni events
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Alumni Profile: Dan Beery
Four years ago in 2004, UTC alumnus Dan Beery ('00) stood on the podium with his 8-member crew after winning the gold medal 8x sweep rowing event at the 2004 Olympics in Athens, Greece. Three years later, Beery once again found himself listening to the USA National Anthem after he and his 5-member crew took the gold medal in the men's coxed four (4+) event at the 2007 World Rowing Championships in Munich, Germany.
We spoke with Dan just days after returning from Germany as he was about to go speak about his Olympic and World Championship rowing experience to a group of high school students in Louisville, Kentucky.
Q. First off, thank you for speaking with us and congratulations on winning gold at the World Championships. How does it feel to once again find yourself on the gold medal podium?
A. It's great. We worked really hard and weren't sure if we would be able to hold off the Serbian boat. But we ended up crossing the line one second before they did.
US Men's Coxed Four Crew(4+) Gold Medal Winners:
(left to right) Matthew Deakin, UTC alumnus Dan Beery, Sam Burns, Chris Liwski and Ned Del Guercio.
Q. As you were standing on the podium at the Olympics and now at the World Championships, what were you feeling as you watched the USA flag being raised and our national anthem being played?
The Olympics was so surreal. It’s hard to explain, but I was so far down in the depth chart of rowers that I never thought it would happen. It’s a complex feeling. When I put on the US uniform, I really feel like it's my job to win. And it just feels like I have to do everything I can to get a gold medal for my country. And as I trained for the World Championships, I really tried to prepare myself athletically to be on the podium and to hear the anthem. And it feels good to know I was able to do that for my country. There's something about standing up there as they raise the flag. Our flag to me just stands for the American idealism that makes me so proud to be on the podium.
Q. You mentioned that you were a big basketball player at one time. How did you end up getting into rowing?
I came from southwest Indiana to play basketball at Bryan College, but I ended up transferring to UTC. One day I was at the gym and Espy (UTC Rowing Coach, Robert Espeseth) just asked me to try out rowing. So I tried it and it was so tough that at first I really ended up not liking it. But I kept at it and ended up really loving it. And it was within one year that I ended up going to the Olympic training camps, mainly because I was blessed with what I learned from Espy.
People just don’t know how good Espeseth is at coaching rowing. The kids [in the UTC club based rowing team] have to do so much on their own to fund the program. Yet, he’s legendary in rowing, especially when he was racing in the ‘80s. He won a World Championship in ’86. And here he was at UTC coaching me.
Q. Tell us about your 4 teammates on your gold-medal World Championship crew.
They are a really special group. Chris Liwski was also an '04 Olympic team mate of mine, but he didn’t get to race because he was an alternate. Sam [Burns] had to wait on some competitions because an injury that I faced that kept us from racing. And Matt Deakin also had back injury to deal with. But after our training, it all just came together this year. I’ve also had some great times with Ned (Del Guercio), our coxswain who I also competed with since 2000. So it was just cool to win with those guys.
Q. I read that the event you raced in, the Men’s coxed four (4+), will no longer be a part of the World Rowing Championships. Why is that?
In Olympic rowing, they have all kinds of events, like they do in track and field. Yet there were just too many events happening. In order to grow the sport they [the Federation Internationale des Soceites d'Aviron, or FISA - the international governing body for the sport of rowing] created the lightweight rowing division, so they had to take away some of the open weight events to include the lightweight events in the Olympics. It basically came down to funding. And so they decided to take out the coxed four.
It’s tough. It’s a great boat to race in to show that you deserve to be on the Olympic team. And to take away that event, it may effect how the Olympic coaches pick the rowers for their teams. A lot of the countries, like Germany and the Dutch, really want to have the event back, but other smaller countries, which have smaller pools of rowers, can’t field teams in all the events, so they don’t enter the boats in those events. And so they [FISA] felt that they needed to even out the racing field.
Q. Which countries are the powerhouses of rowing in international competitions?
Great Britain and Germany are very strong and China and Russian are always good, although there’s speculation that they are doping. The challenge for us [the US team] is to be clean and to set clean world records. And it seems like all the world records will be tainted from doping one day. And we have to compete against teams who have a doping advantage. And that takes a toll on our athletes. All the training and competing we have to do to contend against doping competitors just wears us down.
Q. What is your typical training day like?
We practice three times a day and just recently we’ve shifted into overdrive to prepare for the Olympics. We start at about 8 a.m. with some rowing for a good thirty minutes, then breakfast, then back and row for another hour and a half and then come back in the afternoon and do another section of rowing. It gets pretty intense to the point where some guys have to bail out from getting sick.
Q. Do you have any pre-race rituals?
Not really. I have certain things I like to eat at certain times. I try to keep a certain weight, like a mathematical equation. I eat what I need to have a good race.
Q. Will you be competing in the 2008 Olympics?
Well, there’s no way to answer that quite yet. We almost have too much talent here in the U.S. I think I deserve to be on the team. But it just depends on the coaches picks of all the qualified racers. They’ll announce it in June and finalize the selection.
Q. What do you do when you aren’t rowing?
I work for Home Depot in their Olympic Job Opportunities Program, which helps sponsor the Olympic athletes. I’m in the lawn and garden section. I’m now an expert at fertilizers. We don’t get much time off. But I have a ’72 Scout that I got up in New Hampshire and it’s great fun to work on that.
Q. Tell us about your college experience at UTC?
I had a great educational background from UTC, especially from Dr. Fanning & Dr. Underwood, professors who had strong athletic experience. I learned a lot while I was at UTC and learned a lot personally from their instruction. One day I was talking to Dr. Underwood during college about my family, my commitments outside college and my future career and there was a moment I had where everything was clear at that point about what I wanted to do with my life. I just wanted to pursue my dream but not without hindering my family.
Also, Mr. Stetson’s music appreciation class was awesome. He was the coolest guy ever. At first I wanted to ditch the class, but he made his class so amazing. I still listen to Ravel Bolero because of him.
Q. What advice do you have for current students at UTC?
I think it’s such a big process to go through college. I guess my best advice is not to be afraid to take risks. For me, as far as my career in rowing has gone, it is largely because I took risks and took advantage of those around who helped me, like the professors I had.
And those risks have definitely paid off for you. You probably would never have made the Olympic Rowing Team if you hadn't taken the risk to just try rowing when Robert Espeseth asked you. And now you have an Olympic gold medal and numerous other rowing accomplishments.
Thank you again for speaking with us.
Thank you. I am just very blessed to do what I love.
Homecoming and Fifty Plus
Discover the Gold in the Deep Blue C and attend homecoming events scheduled for October 8-13. A long weekend of events is also planned for the Fifty Plus Reunion.
Your University, a letter to young alumni
As a UTC student in the mid-nineties, I lived on campus in what was known as New Village Apartments, now Johnson Village, the first year they were open. This was the first residence constructed on UTC’s campus in over 20 years, demonstrating how as our city was beginning to enjoy a renaissance, our university was quickly following suit. I continued to live and work in Chattanooga following my graduation from UTC in 1997, and have since witnessed, and had the privilege of being involved in, all that our city and University have become. As a member of The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga’s Alumni Board of Directors and Chair of the Young Alumni Council, my goal is to encourage all young alumni to come back to UTC to be a part of the continued growth of your university.
The term “young alumni” encompasses all alumni of UTC who have graduated, or passed at least 24 semester hours, from the university within the last ten years. The approximate 7,000 young alums living in Hamilton County represent an abundance of virtually untapped resources of energy and enthusiasm that the University needs. The Young Alumni Program Council is designed to establish and maintain a mutually beneficial relationship between UTC and its young alumni. Our objectives for this program are:
- To provide ways for young alumni to stay connected to the University by offering networking opportunities, community service projects and other events specifically geared towards young alumni;
- To educate young alumni about the Alumni Leadership Council; a group of alumni whose purpose is to identify other alumni who are willing to commit the time and energy to work toward the continued development of our University;
- To generate young alumni interest and participation in our University through local Alumni Leadership Council activities, individual college/school constituencies and other special interest affinity groups.
As Chair of the Young Alumni Council, I want to convey the importance of staying involved with your university. Although I am officially, as of May 2007, no longer considered a “young alum,” I do realize the opportunities offered by UTC and more importantly, how any contribution to my University, whether financial or through volunteering, makes a huge difference.
All young alumni should receive a survey via email within the next few weeks. Please take a few minutes to complete this survey so that we, as a University, are providing the programs and opportunities you, as an alumnus, desire. If you haven’t received the survey by October 1, please forward your email address to letusknow@utc.edu . Also, please visit www.utcalumni.com for more information on UTC’s alumni programs.
I look forward to seeing you at some of our upcoming Young Alumni Events.
Sincerely,
Lesley R. Berryhill
UTC Alumni Board
Chair – Young Alumni Council
Class of 1997
Upcoming Young Alumni Events
Thursday, October 11, 2007Big River Tap Party
Big River Grille, Downtown Chattanooga, 5:30-7:00 p.m. Special seating for young alumni.
Saturday, October 13, 2007
Homecoming
Tailgating at First Tennessee Pavilion, 3:00 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.
UTC vs. Western Carolina, 6:00 p.m. Come out and support your alma mater!
Thursday, October 20, 2007Our first Third Thursday event
Market Street Tavern at Miller Plaza, 5:30-7:00 p.m. Appetizer and drink specials for all UTC Young Alumni. An opportunity to get together regularly to socialize, network and reconnect under the banner of our Chattanooga University.
Share your university story
Dr. Debbie Ingram (UTC '84) shared a special University story when she addressed the UTNAA Alumni Leadership Conference induction banquet. Ingram, UC Foundation professor and director of clinical education for the UTC Department of Physical Therapy, is the first faculty member of any campus of the University of Tennessee System to become President of The University of Tennessee National Alumni Association. Ingram spoke lovingly of a promise she made to a cherished family member, a promise to pursue a University education.
Help us deliver a united message about the value of a UTC education. Start by sharing your University story here.
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