Our first PBC Profile - Guess who?

Last summer, we received the photo above via email from a fellow PBC member, who was racing at Masters Nationals in Long Beach, Calif.  The subject line simply read, “Guess who?”  We tried to play along, but after guessing everyone from Apollo mission astronauts to Joe DiMaggio and Roger Maris, the sender finally gave up on us.

It turns out, at one point at least, we had the guy on the left correct:  That’s Tony Johnson, member of Potomac Boat Club, two-time Olympian, and coach of Georgetown University.  Tony was out in Long Beach training with his pair partner for the 1964 Tokyo Olympics when this photo was snapped.  We thought it was pretty cool that another PBC rower would just happen to spot the photo at the Long Beach Rowing Center more than 40 years later.

But have you guessed who the other guy is, yet?

Well, when we envisioned the PBC Profiles area of the Potomac Star the guy on the right was first on our list of potential “victims.”  And no, it isn’t Roger Maris.  Back then, this New York guy had a few vertical inches and probably more than a few solid pounds on Maris.  Give up?  Thought so! (Drumroll, please.)

It’s Jim Edmonds!

You can find Jim at the boathouse almost any time you show up.  In fact, some of us see him there so often, we’ve wondered if he is just always there.  (Of course, he probably wonders the same about us.)  A couple of weeks ago at PBC’s Annual Meeting, House Committee Chair Cal Sutliff thanked Jim for his involvement in almost every improvement and repair project at the boathouse, but, of course, it happened to be one of those rare occasions Jim wasn’t there with us.

If you know him at all, it probably wouldn’t surprise you to learn that Jim was back out in California racing at the San Diego Crew Classic the week of the meeting.  And maybe it was just as well.  Although Jim always seems to be there when we need him, he definitely is not one who likes a big to-do to be made about all that he has done.

When we decided that readers of the Potomac Star would like to know more about Jim, we also knew it would be tough to get him to let us do a write-up about his life.  Thank goodness Jim’s sons, Eric and Marc, were more than happy to share his story with us!

Following is our very first PBC Profile.  It was written by Eric and Marc Edmonds as a tribute to their dad, former Syracuse University rowing alum, Pan Am champ, Olympian … and just one of our most beloved PBC guys of recent time, Jim Edmonds.

Our dad, Jim Edmonds, comes from a long line of farmers, not rowers.  One of three children, Dad grew up with older brother Jack and younger sister Nancy on the Edmonds family farm near Keuka Lake in the Finger Lakes region of upstate New York.  Established in the 1830’s, the Edmonds family farm produced chickens, cows, corn, and cabbage.  Lots of cabbage.  In 1974, the farm was sold to one of the first Mennonite families to move to the area from Pennsylvania, and later became the subject of a National Geographic special on Mennonites in New York.

When Dad and his brother Jack weren’t going to school or helping out on the farm, they built race cars and raced them at a track a couple of towns away.  One year, Dad won first place in the National Teenage Road-E-O contest “in recognition of expert driving ability and proper driving attitude.”  Growing up on a farm, Dad gained self-reliance and practical mechanical know-how, but also learned the importance of hard work and helping others.  His parents instilled in him the modesty, humility and integrity that he continues to exhibit today.

In high school, Dad excelled in math and science, and never missed a day.  He did so well that he earned a state scholarship to attend Syracuse University, which is where he was first introduced to rowing.  At Syracuse, Dad majored in mechanical engineering, and initially tried out for the basketball team as a freshman.  He didn’t make it, but at 6’4”, he caught the attention of the rowing coach, who asked him to come out for the university’s rowing team.  He did and he loved it.  His freshman year, Dad rowed in the freshman eight that won the IRA regatta.  In 1959, his senior year, Dad rowed bow of the varsity eight, which beat all other competitor crews that season except for Cornell.  They would more than make up for that one loss, though, by winning gold at the 1959 Pan Am Games.

Dad ended up rowing all four years at Syracuse, one year achieving the highest GPA of any varsity athlete.  He graduated from Syracuse in 1959, with a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering, and went on from there to earn a Master of Science degree in Computer Science (then referred to as Mathematics) from the University of Michigan.  Following graduation, he accepted a job offer from IBM, and was assigned to supporting the Department of Defense and the Central Intelligence Agency in the DC area.  Moving to DC also brought Dad to Potomac Boat Club (PBC), where he started rowing a pair with fellow Syracuse alum, Tony Johnson.  They were coached by legendary Washington-Lee High School coach, Charlie Butt, Jr.

Dad trained with Tony twice a day, and continued to hold down his job with IBM.  It seemed like the hard work had paid off.  That year, they won the Olympic trials qualifying them for the 1964 Tokyo Olympics.  In the end, the pair wasn’t able to medal, but the 1965 National Association of Amateur Oarsman (NAAO) Almanac reported that strong cross winds made their race “the most controversial race of the regatta.”  Of course, if you asked Dad why they didn’t medal at the Olympics, he most likely would not hesitate to take responsibility for it all himself.

Dad continued to row with Potomac Boat Club following the Olympics, and in 1965, he was in the PBC boat that won the Men’s Championship 8 event at the very first Head of the Charles Regatta, also the first official head style race in the U.S.  Around 1970, Dad hung up his oar and, as far as we know, didn’t touch one again for more than 25 years.  Instead, he focused on other outdoor activities, work, and family.  Dad met Yolanda Coppola, the future Mrs. Edmonds and our mom, at IBM.  They married and then moved to the house in Arlington where they raised us (sons Eric and Marc), and where they still live today.

Dad always loved the outdoors, and loved spending time with us outdoors.  He would pack up the whole family into a Volkswagen Bug for weekends of canoeing, hiking and camping up in the Shenandoah Mountains of Virginia, and for the annual trip to the Adirondack Mountains of New York.  Although he wasn’t actively rowing during this time, he was remained very active at PBC, and  continued to go down to the boathouse at least three times a week for a run or to help out anyway he could.  Dad  managed the timing for the Head of the Potomac Regatta from the first one in 1981 until 2005, and then again in 2008.  In fact, Dad might have been one of the first to employ a computer-based system to manage regatta timing.  In 1983, he used a simple timing program he had written on his home computer  to successfully manage the timing for the Head of the Potomac from that year forward.

In 1997, Dad disappeared for one very long day, and returned with a Filippi single on top of his car.  It seemed to signal his return to rowing.  To this day, we are not exactly sure what the impetus was, but he jumped right back into competition, racing in various regattas, including at the IRA in a gold medal winning Syracuse alumni boat, the San Diego Crew Classic, Masters Nationals, the Head of the Charles, the Head of the Potomac, and even the Head of the River in London.

Dad retired from IBM after more than 30 years.  He still enjoys hiking and canoeing and has been a long time member of the Potomac Appalachian Trail Club, where he volunteers to help maintain equipment and trails in the Shenandoah National Park.  And of course, as you know, Dad continues to row and race.  We followed Dad into the sport of rowing, and rowed at Washington-Lee High School for Dad’s former coach, Charlie Butt.  We continued the tradition of rowing in college, and returned to row for PBC after graduation.

If you’d like to see a few more images from this PBC Profile of Jim Edmonds, please play the slideshow below.