For Mike Wherley, the year 2000 was supposed to culminate in winning the gold medal in the men's eight at the Olympic Games. Sitting in the five seat of the eight, Wherley had played a pivotal role in each of the crew's three consecutive world titles from 1997 to 1999. No American eight had ever won two world championships in a row, much less three, and the 6-foot-7 native of Sun Prairie, Wis., was looking to complete the unprecedented run with a gold medal in Sydney.
"When we were down, Wherley would always get us back up," said men?s eight coxswain Pete Cipollone about the 28-year old. "He was the core of the crew."
But in late June, Wherley's Olympic goals and dreams changed. Dave Simon, a junior to be at Brown University who was tapped to row in the men's four, came down with a major back injury just days before men?s sweep coach Mike Teti was ready to name the boat. The four, which still had to race at the Olympic Qualifying Regatta in early July just to earn the right to compete at the Games, was one man short of being a strong crew. There was a chance that three of the top rowers in the United States might not even qualify for the Olympics. Enter Wherley. The University of Minnesota graduate had been the one man that was consistently making the four move faster, so Teti asked him about making a switch.
"Anyone else was just not good enough," Teti said. "Mike took himself out of the premier event for the sake of the team. I don't know anyone else in our sport that would have done that. I know I wouldn't have done it when I was on the team."
When Teti approached him about the potential move, Wherley was rowing better than he had ever rowed before. He had dropped four seconds off his top ergometer (indoor rowing machine) score, had not lost a seat race the entire year, and was a virtual lock to be sitting in his customary five seat in Sydney. To leave the eight at that point would have been like Pete Sampras pulling out of the singles finals at Wimbledon to play in the doubles qualifier because his best friends' partner and been hurt.
But Wherley never hesitated about making the switch. For most people, giving up a guaranteed seat in a gold medal-caliber crew to race in a boat in which the U.S. finished 13th at the 1999 World Championships, 11th at the 1996 Olympics, and isn't even a sure bet to make the Olympic final would be unthinkable. For Wherley, it was unthinkable to leave three of his training partners in jeopardy of missing the Olympic Team.
"Chris (Ahrens) asked Wherley, 'Can you handle it come September 24th if all your friends are wearing gold medals and you finish fifth?' Mike said, 'Yes. I can't let down the other guys,'" Cipollone said. "Mike knew he was in the position to win another medal in the eight, but he also knew if he didn't race the four, there was the potential it wouldn't qualify. It was pure bravery. It took more guts than I would have had."
"It made me question my own values," said six seat of the men's eight and three-time Olympian Jeff Klepacki. "When you've been as lucky as we have, it is easy to get selfish. To see him make the decision without complaining because it had to be done, you realize how fortunate you really are. When you think of the Olympic ideal, you think of a great athlete, a team player, and a person who is selfless. Mike is all three."
For Wherley, selflessness is the norm. His day starts at 5:30 each morning with a 45-minute drive to practice, the longest on the team. He works full time at Factiva, a joint venture of Dow Jones, Inc., and Reuters News Service, and then heads back for afternoon practice before making the 45-minute drive back home. The fifth of eight kids, Wherley lists his wife, Janet Distel, as his biggest inspiration. While they were dating, Janet overcame Hodgkin?s Disease in 1996. The couple got married right after Wherley's first world title in 1997, and Wherley says Janet was instrumental in helping him talk through his decision to change boats.
Now, Wherley will try to win his Olympic medal in the four, an extremely competitive event in which a medal will be tough to come by. But whether he wins a medal or not, Wherley is a gold medallists in his coach's and teammates' eyes.
"If America is looking for a role model, here's a guy from America's heartland with the biggest heart in the world," Teti said. "He sacrificed a sure seat in the eight for the good of the team. He's the epitome of the Olympic ideal."
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