Geared for Success

Dartmouth sisters add a page to the history books

If Carlie Geer '80 feels a special sense of pride every time she walks past Bartlett Hall, it's understandable. The building is named in honor of her great-greatgrandfather, Samuel Bartlett.

Bartlett was president of the College from 1877 to 1892. Although she doesn't have a building with her name on it, Carlie (below, left) has managed to earn a place in Dartmouth history along with her great-great-grandfather.

At 26, Carlie Geer is the first Dartmouth woman ever to capture an Olympic medal. In August, she won the silver in the women's single sculls event at the 1984 Summer Olympics. "A week before the Games, I thought I would have to be pretty lucky if I was going to get any medal at all," she says. "As the week went on I got better and I started to become more confident. By the day of the race I would have been disappointed if I hadn't at least gotten the bronze."

Carlie left no room for disappointment. She reconfirmed what many people at Dartmouth already believed that she is one of the world's finest women single scullers. "I wasn't surprised at all," says Dick Grossman, coach of Dartmouth's lightweight crew and former Harvard coxswain. "Strategically, she rowed an excellent race. Her performance is an example to other Dartmouth athletes. It shows people who are just starting to row what they can do if they are willing to work hard and become dedicated to the sport."

From the halfway mark of the 1,000meter race, Carlie Geer's chances of winning a medal never seemed in doubt. She beat bronze medalist, Ann Haesebrouck of Belgium, by two seconds. Geer finished less than three seconds behind gold medalist Valeria Racila of Romania. The single sculls is considered to be rowing's glory event. Before ever getting to the Olympics, Geer had to beat all the top rowers at the U.S. trials earlier in the summer.

How did Geer feel as she crossed the finish line and the silver medal had turned from dream to reality? "There was relief and there was elation," she says. "There was a lot of adrenalin flowing and a lot of satisfaction."

Carlie wasn't the only member of her family to row in the Summer Olympics. Judy, her older sister, '75 was part of the U.S. double sculls team that finished sixth. "It's exciting to be at the Olympics, but it was a bit disappointing," Judy explains. "It was a good year to win the Olympics with the East Europeans not there."

Even before the Olympics began, Carlie and Judy Geer were two of the biggest names in U.S. rowing. Judy, a 1983 graduate of Thayer School, has been on the U.S. rowing team for nine years and qualified for the past three Summer Olympics.

Judy, 31, is the one who deserves the credit for ever getting her sister Carlie to set foot into a shell. Judy was rowing in the 1976 Olympics (finishing sixth) and Carlie came to watch. Soon afterward, she began her rowing career as a Dartmouth freshman. "I've always looked up to Judy," says Carlie. "She's been very supportive of everything I've done."

Judy thinks Carlie has also been a big help in her own rowing career. The two have often trained together and a sibling rivalry has developed over the years. "I think there's constantly quite a bit of competitiveness between the two of us," Judy says. "On the other hand, it's not an unfriendly type of competition. I think it's helped both of us; we've been able to push each other."

Outside of rowing circles, the accomplishments of the Geer sisters often go unnoticed. While it is extremely big in Eastern European countries, rowing suffers from an identity crisis in the United States. Rowing, however, has taken on a special significance at Dartmouth during the past 30 years. The portion of the Connecticut River that flows near Hanover is considered one of the best training grounds in the country. The U.S. men's Olympic rowing team spent much of the summer training in Hanover before heading to Los Angeles.

"In the summer, this is the best place to row in the country," says Grossman, the Dartmouth lightweight coach. "No question about it. You can row as far as you want on this part of the Connecticut River and never have to worry about turning around. Hanover is the ideal setting; it's sort of like going to summer camp."

At the college level, Dartmouth has become a national power in women's rowing. The team finished second in the nationals in 1983 and was fourth this spring. Rowing is the largest participatory varsity sport at the College. Last fall, 300 men and women tried out for rowing, with 150 of them making the spring squad.

And the Geers deserve much of the credit for putting Dartmouth on the rowing map. "They both have been very good for the sport," says Grossman.

Judy coached the women's team after graduating. But the rowing program wasn't the reason either of the Geer sisters came to Dartmouth. It goes much deeper than that. For five generations now, members of their family have been attending Dartmouth. Their great-grandfather was a chemistry professor here. "We're thoroughly a Dartmouth family/' said Howard E. Geer Jr.,' 43 of Darien, Conn.

Carlie Geer never doubted that she wanted to follow in her dad's and sister's footsteps. "I wanted to go to Dartmouth since I was eight years old when we came to Hanover for football games," she said.

The family lives in Darien, Conn., and has a summer home in West Fairlee, Vt. Yet Carlie has never been one to boast of her family ties to the College. If you didn't ask, she would never divulge that her great-great-grandfather was once president of the College. "I see no reason to flaunt it." she says. "It has nothing at all to do with my rowing. As a family, we enjoy the fact we've been part of the Dartmouth tradition."

Judy, meanwhile, remembers the subject of her family's Dartmouth connection often being a dinner table conversation. "We all sort of act embarrased when either Mom or Dad brings it up," she says. "That's the kind of thing only they would bring up in our family. But all of us think it's kind of neat, actually."

Back to rowing. While other Olympians are making fortunes after their performances in Los Angeles, Carlie Geer won't be able to cash her silver medal into dollars. Rowing isn't that type of sport. Still, she says, it doesn't change anything. "I'm not in the sport for money," she says. "So, I really don't think about it. It [the silver medal] is something I can always look back on," she muses. "It's something that will give me more confidence. I know I can be successful in rowing so I'm confident I can be successful in other aspects of my life."

Geer is enrolled this fall at Tufts University in Boston, working on her master's degree in nutrition. As far as her rowing career goes, she says, "I intend to keep training." When you're rowing and attending graduate school at the same time, that means sometimes you're on the river before most people are out of bed. The rigorous training schedule can also mean there's not much time for social activities. Most days she is up at 6 a.m. and in bed by 9 p.m. "It's such a part of my lifestyle, it doesn't even seem like it's a sacrifice," she says. "I suppose it is a sacrifice, but the fact that I'm only going to be able to do it for a short part of my life doesn't make it seem like one."

Carlie is keeping her silver medal performance in perspective. She doesn't feel it will change her life in any way. "It [winning the silver] has worn off very quickly," she says. "I'm just not the type of person to gloat. I admit, though, every once in a while I think back to the race and it gives me a neat feeling."

Ever since the U.S. boycott of the 1980 Summer Games in Moscow, the younger Geer has been very outspoken about the political aspect of the Olympics. "The Olympics should not be used as a political tool by anyone," she said in the August issue of New HampshireProfiles. Carlie and Judy qualified as the U.S. double sculls team for those Olympics, but they never got a chance to row because of the boycott. With the Soviet bloc boycott of the Games in Los Angeles this summer, Carlie admits her chances of winning a medal were greatly enhanced before she even put her boat in the water.

"If it weren't for the boycott, I think realistically I wouldn't have gotten the silver," she says. "But I think I would have still have gotten the bronze. The Russian woman wasn't fast this year. It would have been between me and the East German for the silver. If the East German and the Russian were there, I would have had to row a different kind of race. I would have just had to go all out and hope for the best rather than to use any kind of strategy."

Neither of the Geers is certain about what kind of role rowing will play in their futures. Carlie is going to concentrate on graduate school while Judy has moved to Morrisville, Vt., and taken a job as an engineer.

In her "spare" time, Judy has started training seriously for triathlons a combination individual running/swimming and bicycling marathon. Judy, who once ran in the Boston Marathon, still entertains thoughts of continuing her rowing career. "I'm considering it," she says. "I don't want to make it as much as a priority as it has been in the past, though. I still enjoy rowing, but there are other things I want to do."

And if Judy or Carlie are as successful in other areas of life as they have been in rowing, they might end up with their name on a Dartmouth building. Just like their great-great-grandfather. "sgf

That's Carlie in front with her sister Judy inthe stern. Photo by Nancy Washerman '77.