Staying Clear

Judy Geer '75

Women's Rowing (1987-1989)

Judy used to have us over for meals where she lived in Vermont. She hadawonderfuloldfarmhouse.It didn't have a polished kind of dining room with little things hanging on the walls. Judy lived without any frills; she didn't care about appearances. She was down to earth. I remember thinking Thiswoman is fabulous.

That was a confusing time for a lot of women at Dartmouth. I came to admire Judy as a person as much as a coach. She was strong, independent, and had a very direct sense of what she wanted to acomplish. There was no static in her mind. She didn't play politics or worry about what people thought of her. But

she was conscious of personalities and how people worked together. I didn't have the weight that some of the other women did, and I didn't score as high on the strength tests. But Judy was willing to consider other things, like the finesse of your timing, or your ability to mesh with other people in the boat. That's why, I think, she put me in the stroke position. I deeply appreciated that honor.

I had a very low period when I was a junior. I had overexerted myself the previous summer when we tried to send a lightweight crew to Canada. I'd lowered my weight to compensate for some of the women in the boat who were above the weight limit, and I got too light. I exercised too much. I rowed through that fall and trained in the winter, but as the spring began I got really run down. I talked to Judy about it, and she persuaded me to stop exercising. She didn't say, "You're letting us down." I felt an amazing lack of pressure. She wanted what was best for me. "You'll be strong again," she told me. In time, I completely regained the strength that I'd lost. I did row again, a year later at Bristol University in England, stroking a women's four.

I'm 37 years old now, and I don't think there's a mountain I can't climb. I still lift weights, still exercise. Judy gave me a lifelong belief in my own physical strength. She seemed like a pioneer to me. She came from Darien, Connecticut, kind of a tame suburb, but she was a physical dynamo. She worked us hard, and did all the work right along with us. She gave us the sense there was valor in it. She was the first strong woman I really knew. And yet she was so modest, so genuine, so clear. I know she wasn't born in New Hampshire, but to me she'll always be the quintessential New Hampshire woman. I don't thinkyou would have found a coach like her at Harvard or Yale.

When you're insecure as we all were, when you're going through all the self doubt that we go through as young people, it is a relief to meet someone you can admire and look up to. Judy Geer was a model. The kind of person you could eventually become yourself if you were careful and stayed clear.

"I have used alot of lessonsfrom Jerry, onand off Davis Rink, all my life."

"She was thefirst strongwoman I reallyknew."