SEATTLE, July 14, 2005 Olympic gold medal rowers Matt Deakin, Bryan Volpenhein, Beau Hoopman, Dan Beery and their coach Matt Imes will deliver the ceremonial first pitch at the Baltimore Orioles - Seattle Mariners Major League Baseball game Saturday, July 16 at Safeco Field.
The Olympians were a part of the United States mens eight-oared crew that made history at the 2004 Athens Games by setting a worlds best time on the way to winning the gold. Their victory ended a 40-year gold medal drought in the event for the U.S. They are in Seattle preparing for the 2005 World Rowing Championships, Aug. 28 - Sept. 4 in Gifu, Japan where they will represent the U.S. in the men's fours event. The Olympians will take the field for the ceremonial first pitch just prior to the games 7:05 p.m. start. The game will be telecast live in high definition on Fox Sports Net. Tickets are available by visiting www.seattlemariners.com
Three of the rowers and coach Matt Imes have Northwest ties. Deakin is a three-time letter winner at the University of Washington while Volpenhein and Hoopman are training on the UW campus. Imes is a former Gonzaga University and Oregon State University assistant coach. All four of the rowers faced each other in pairs competition at this springs Windermere Cup regatta on Seattles Montlake Cut.
On the way to winning the gold, the U.S. mens eight, which finished second to the Canadians at the 2003 World Championships, set a worlds best time of 5:19.85 in its qualifying heat, finishing 0.61 seconds ahead of Canada. The time was 2.95 seconds faster than the previous worlds best time. Prior to the Athens Olympics, the last U.S. men's eight-oared Olympic gold was won in Tokyo at the 1964 Games.
Matt Deakin 2004 Olympic gold medalist Matt Deakin is a three-time letter winner in rowing at the University of Washington. The San Francisco native has represented the U.S on four teams since 2001 winning gold at the 2004 Olympic Games, 2003 World Rowing Championships and 2002 World Under 23 Regatta. In four years on Montlake, Deakin helped Washington capture four Pac 10 silver medals in four years. As a senior, Deakin helped the Dawgs' varsity eight to a Windermere Cup title and a bronze medal at the 2002 IRA National Championships.
Bryan Volpenhein Bryan Volpenhein stroked the United States mens eight-oared crew to its first Olympic gold medal in 40 years at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Greece. On the way to winning the gold, the crew set a worlds best time of 5:19.85 in its heat eclipsing the previous mark by 2.95 seconds. Since 1998, the six-time U.S. national team member has collected six gold medals including two World Championships golds, two World Cup golds, a Blue Ribbon Challenge gold and the 2004 Olympic gold. Prior to the Athens Games, Volpenhein stroked the U.S. mens four to a gold medal at the 2004 BearingPoint World Cup stop in Lucerne, Switzerland, beating the defending world champions from Canada and the eventual Olympic champions from Great Britain by open water. For his efforts, The Cincinnati native was named the 2004 USRowing Male Athlete of the Year. He had also received the award in 2002 and is the only male to receive the award twice. Volpenhein rowed collegiately at The Ohio State University.
Beau Hoopman Beau Hoopman is a four-time U.S. national team member. Since 2001 the Plymouth, Wisconsin native has won four gold medals in international competition including a gold at the 2004 Lucerne World Cup, 2003 Pan American Games, 2002 Nation's Cup Regatta and the 2004 Olympic Games. Hoopman rowed collegiately at the University of Wisconsin.
Dan Beery At 29, Dan Beery was the oldest member of the first U.S. men's eight-oared crew to win an Olympic gold medal in 40 years. Prior to the Athens Games, the three-time U.S. national team member helped the U.S. win gold in the men's four at the 2004 Lucerne World Cup and gold in the men's pair with coxswain at the 2003 World Rowing Championships. From 1999 to 2002 Beery won five U.S. national rowing titles. Prior to beginning his rowing career at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, the Oaktown, Indiana native played collegiate basketball for two years at Bryan College where he was awarded the teams Most Improved Athlete award.
Coach Matt Imes Matt Imes is a former Gonzaga (1994-97) and Oregon State (1997-02) assistant rowing coach. The Wisconsin Badger joined Mike Tetis USRowing staff in June of 2002 after spending five years as mens freshman coach and womens assistant coach on the Corvallis, Oregon campus. The LaCrosse, Wisconsin native, is currently coaching the U.S. mens four consisting of members of the 2004 U.S. Olympic gold medal eight. In 2004 he was an assistant coach on the U.S. Olympic Rowing Team and in 2003 coached the U.S. mens four with coxswain to a gold medal at the World Championships. That same year he was named USRowing National Development Coach of the Year. Previously he coached the U.S. mens eight to a silver medal at the 2001 Nations Cup (Under 23 World Championships) and the U.S. mens four with coxswain to a silver medal at the 2000 FISA Non-Olympic World Championships. At the collegiate level, Imes 2002 OSU womens junior varsity eight won the silver medal at the Pacific-10 Conference Championships and in 2000 his mens freshman eight finished fourth at the Intercollegiate Rowing Association (IRA) National Championships.