SEATTLE — The gold medal won by UW rower Don Hume in the 1936 Berlin games.
An Olympic jersey surrendered by a German rower.
And an American flag Nazi Germany presented to gold medalist Joe Rantz.
If you want to see up close proof of the pluck University of Washington rower have developed on Puget Sound waters, the story is here in a Museum of History & Industry (MOHAI) exhibit called "Pulling Together: A Brief History of Rowing in Seattle".
"This exhibition has come together, because of so many people," Curator Devorah Romanek said. "So many organizations who have really gone the extra mile to make it happen".
Romanek read Daniel James Brown's best-selling book, "The Boys On The Boat," on the plane as it headed towards Seattle for her job interview at MOHAI.
On opening day in November, visitors, family members and Olympic medalists from the University of Washington peered over each other's shoulders to check out the exhibit.
Betsy Beard Stillings, the gold medal winning coxswain from 1984, remembers her team was dead even with the Romanians when that Huskies determination took hold.
"I said we are not going to lose this race," Stillings recalled. "And it was supposed to be a command and a prophecy. I wanted to instill in them that I knew 100% we could win the race but we just had to turn around and do it."
Ed Ives won Silver in 1984 and continues to row competitively, pushing his body to its absolute limit every time.
"When you've got other people's back, no matter what, I think that's what keeps you going," he said. "When you're like 'I feel like I'm gonna die right now,' I can't die because John back there, he's counting on me not to die."
The exhibit takes us back to the turn of the last century when rowing champ Lucy Pocock joined her brothers, the boat makers, to coach the University of Washington women's team.
"Hiram Conibear, the men's coach at the time, believed in women participating in sports which was not a commonly held idea," Romanek said.
There are far too many championship teams and Olympic medalists to name in a short article. But every UW rowing team that takes a boat out on the water knows, onboard, they're also carrying a legacy.
"The history of the University of Washington is ingrained in everybody that has ever rowed at the University of Washington," Stillings said. " It's just ingrained. And I was lucky enough to know and have met a number of the 1936 crew and I hope the young athletes I meet coming through the Husky program will be somewhat inspired to seek the top of the podium."
Pulling Together: A Brief History of Rowing in Seattle will be on view at MOHAI through June 2, 2024.
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