Perhaps it was something in Michael Hervey's genetic tree that stirred five years ago as he looked out upon a group of rowers on Mission Bay.
“I remember telling my mom that rowing looked interesting and that I might like to try crew,” the Point Loma High junior recalled last week. “When I went to a rowing summer camp, I fell in love with the sport.”
That is about when Hervey started learning that rowing is something of a family tradition.
His great-grandfather, George Jessop, was a member of the San Diego Rowing Club roughly a century ago. So were his great-granduncles, one of whom, the late Joe Jessop, is the father of the Crew Classic. Joe's granddaughter Cathleen Thaxton was a member of the 1976 U.S. Olympic rowing team.
And Michael Hervey's grandmother and great-grandmother were members of the ZLAC Rowing Club.
“Michael had no idea of his heritage before he started rowing,” his father, Matthew Hervey, said.
But it didn't take Michael long to be touched by the history.
There is a room at the San Diego Rowing Club's base on Mission Bay adorned with pictures chronicling the famed club's 120-year history. Those pictures also chronicle part of the Jessop-Hervey story.
“When I look at some of those pictures, it's really interesting,” Michael Hervey said. “It sounds ridiculous how far it goes back. My great-great-grandfather was a coxswain and one of the pictures shows him seated in front of his crew.
“And I think about how I caught the bug. Rowing is a demanding sport. Not everyone does it. I definitely see a connection. I don't know why I was drawn to rowing, because I really didn't know that much about the family history until after I started.
“But I love it.”
The long line of rowers in Michael Hervey's past would be proud.
Hervey is in Sacramento rowing in the Western Regional Championships on Lake Natoma. He's rowing in the men's varsity quad and doubles, hoping to earn a third trip to the U.S. Junior Nationals.
Last year, as a member of the San Diego Rowing Club's varsity four, Hervey won a bronze medal at the regionals and was a member of the fifth-place boat at the nationals. In 2006, he was a member of the SDRC men's varsity quad that placed 10th at the nationals.
Although he still has a year to go in high school, Hervey is drawing interest from Ivy League schools as well as rowing powers on the West Coast.
“When I think about the family, I think it's great that I'm rowing,” Hervey said. “Everywhere on the Jessop side of the family, there were rowers.”
And everywhere on his mother's side are sailors. Cathy Hervey's father is the late Pete Bennett, who was one of the leading members of San Diego's famed Star fleet.
Miscellany
The Appellate Division of the New York Supreme Court has rejected Alinghi's request for a stay pending its appeal of a ruling regarding the head-to-head defense between the Swiss defender and the Oracle-BMW team representing Golden Gate Yacht Club of San Francisco. That match could happen as soon as late summer – or as late as next spring in Valencia, Spain.
Gavin Brady won the 44th Congressional Cup match racing series in Long Beach last week. Brady joins Rod Davis and Peter Holmberg as the only four-time winners. Johnie Berntsson of Sweden was second, American Scott Dickson was third.
Bill Center: (619) 293-1851; bill.center@uniontrib.com
