Dean makes history with single scull win at World Juniors

At the 2016 World Rowing Junior Championships in the Netherlands, Clark Dean watched a few races next to John Luby, the U.S. men’s single scull representative at those games.

Dean, then a Pine View School junior, told Luby, now at Harvard University, he was considering competing in the single scull event at the 2017 games. Luby advised him against it — hard. Americans don’t win that event, he told Dean. Luby finished sixth in the event’s “B” final himself.

He was almost right. No American had won the event in 50 years, when Jim Dietz won it at the first-ever iteration of the junior championships in Ratzeburg, Germany. Either way, it was not an event that favored Americans, who tend to do better in the bigger boat events. That didn’t deter Dean. In fact, it made him want it more.

“I’m going to go win it,” he told Luby.

On Aug. 6, he fulfilled his promise.

Crossing the finish line at the 2017 championships in Trakai, Lithuania, Dean felt relief more than anything, he said. He finished in 7:04.73, more than 3 seconds faster than second-place finisher Mortiz Wolff of Germany. Dean never trailed in the race, and was actually less nervous about the final than the event’s first heat. He had never really rowed the single competitively until a Philadelphia regatta in May, which he won. That gave him confidence that he could at least hold his own in the event, he said. The more he raced it, the more confident he felt.

Still, Dean was restless lining up for the championships’ first heat. As it turned out, the top three qualifiers in the heat were the top three finishers in the final, in the same order.

He’s proud to be a part of America’s changing rowing culture. The U.S. is still dominant at big boats, and for good reason: Most colleges only participate in the men’s and women’s eight, Dean said, with some expanding to add a coxed four.

“It’s a trickle-down effect,” Dean said. “Most high school programs only focus on those events because colleges do.”

Dean’s rowing program, Sarasota Crew, isn’t one of them, but the prevalence of sweep events, which use one oar per person, causes an unbalanced talent pool, leaving the sculling side, which uses two oars per person, near empty. That’s why Dean decided to take up the single scull. It’s where his talents were best put to use. Now, by bringing home the gold, he hopes to convince rowers that sculling isn’t so bad. For the U.S. to strengthen its claim as a rowing power, they’ll need to listen to him.

He isn’t a one-trick sea horse. (An aside: For water sports, can we all agree to change the phrase to “one-trick sea horse”?) He “double raced” at the championships, competing in the men’s coxed four and finishing sixth, a rare feat in itself. Most rowers don’t have the energy to row six races in four days, but Dean did, and with gusto.

Dean isn’t sure what he’s going to do next. He’s taking official visits in September to the University of California-Berkeley, Harvard University and the rest of the big rowing schools. His decision might be decided by which school offers him the most scholarship money. He’s also not looking too far into the future. There was no mention of the big “O” word during our chat, though by the look on his face I could tell we were both thinking about it. Instead, he’s deciding between participating in the World Juniors again next year, as he’ll still be eligible, and moving to the U23 championships. If he decides to advance, he’ll have the memories from these juniors, including two correspondences he didn’t expect.

As he waited to get drug tested following his gold medal win, Dean received a call from a number he did not recognize. He answered anyway. It was Jim Dietz, the first U.S. single scull champion calling to say congratulations to the second. That was a cool moment, Dean said.

A cooler one? A few days after returning from the championships, Dean received a message from John Luby. You remember, the guy who told Dean not to try the race?

Yeah, that guy. He gave Dean congratulations as well, and admitted to being as wrong as you can be.

Dean could only laugh, and say thanks.