World Class

April 5, 2018

By Eric Detweiler, GW Athletics Communications

Benjamin Delaney understood the long odds he faced upon reporting for U.S. Rowing's Senior National Team selection camp last summer. Whatever the outcome, the GW starboard wanted to make sure he took full advantage of the opportunity to train alongside some of the nation's best.

"I knew I was starting out on the very bottom of the totem pole," Delaney said. "I just tried to internalize everything that they told me and to improve as much as I could as quickly as I could."

Delaney's strategy paid off in a surprise spot in the men's four that placed 10th at the 2017 World Championships. The Florida native was the first GW rower to qualify for the senior national team during his collegiate career.

A similar mindset landed teammate Bob Hobert a place on the U.S. squad that competed at the World U-23 Championships. The junior port picked up a late invitation to the national tryout in Oklahoma City last June and earned his way into the eight-man boat that went on to finish fourth in Plovdiv, Bulgaria.

"I knew I was an underdog," Hobert said. "I didn't have the fastest erg score (measuring performance on the rowing machine). I didn't have the best rowing resume. There were plenty of other schools with better guys. I just went in to learn and get some experience training at that high intensity, but I guess that embodiment of letting go really translated to my rowing."

On the other side, Delaney and Hobert are using the confidence and experience gained on the international stage with the Red, White and Blue to lead the Buff and Blue this spring.

They are the stern pair in GW's varsity eight, heading into the 30th George Washington Invitational, which begins Friday on the Potomac River along the Georgetown waterfront. That veteran leadership has been a boon for the Colonials, who are breaking in a host of new additions to their top boat.

"It's great because it's not just on me or it's not just on Ben," said Hobert, who was part of the group that placed 14th at last year's IRA National Championships to tie the best finish in program history. "We've both come back with tips and technique and intensity that we hadn't previously had, and we've tried to pass that on to the team together."

For Delaney, the senior national team berth demonstrated his immense progress in a short time. He was the last starboard cut during U-23 squad tryouts in 2016, a fact that was never far from mind during his junior season.

"I had my two or three weeks of kind of sulking and being bummed out about it, and then I came back to GW and was just kind of revved up and ready to have fun with it," Delaney said. "I wanted to get as fast as I could to prove the (national) coaches wrong (and) show them that they'd made the wrong choice."

GW head coach Mark Davis has long been impressed by Delaney's work ethic. The morning after the Colonials wrapped up at the prestigious Henley Regatta in the summer of 2016, for example, the coach woke up to find Delaney already in the middle of a workout on the rowing machine.

That commitment to daily progress jumped to another level last season, whether out on the water, in the weight room or on the rowing machine.

"Ben wants to be really good," Davis said. "He's very driven and because of that, he'll do whatever work he needs to do."

Heading into last summer, Delaney had the erg score to qualify for the senior national team, but his invitation to the selection camp in Princeton, N.J., came with few promises. He knew he had to beat out older and more experienced competition to show that he deserved a spot on Team USA.

"Really, it was kind of hoping for the best but expecting the worst," Delaney said with a grin.

To separate himself, Delaney honed in on his technique. He judged his daily success by how physically and mentally drained he was at the end of each day. His main goal was to feel like he gave the tryout everything that he had.

Delaney missed out on the eight-man boat but garnered a spot in the four-man, a discipline that depends on an efficient stroke as much as brute force strength. He was one of only three collegiate rowers to make the squad for the World Championships.

It was a long-awaited return to international competition for Delaney after rowing with the U.S. Junior National team in 2011. That he got to do it on his home course in Sarasota, Fla., before a host of family and friends made it that much more special.

"It's hard to even put into words," Delaney said. "I knew that I wanted to (represent Team USA) again and I knew it was going to take a lot of hard work. When I got there all over again, it was just incredible."

Hobert's path to the national team was perhaps even more unlikely. His invitation to the national tryout came on the second-to-last day of racing at the IRA National Championships via a U.S. Rowing official on site who was impressed with his performance at the regatta.

Hobert had already made plans to take a few days off after the regatta with a train trip from California back to his native Chicago, where he'd arranged to spend the summer as an intern with a gubernatorial campaign.

Everything changed when Hobert realized he had a shot to represent his country. He bought a plane ticket and made plans to do the internship remotely.

That whirlwind meant he didn't have time to overthink the opportunity. He put his best foot forward over four weeks in Oklahoma to earn his place in the six seat for the men's eight at the U-23 World Championships, a key spot for translating the rhythm of the stroke to the rest of the boat.

Davis was surprised by the sudden turn of events but not shocked that Hobert made the most of his opportunity.

"I think the thing with Bob is he's just so positive," Davis said. "He doesn't really get down at all. I think he's just willing to accept coaching to get better, and he just keeps getting better all the time."

In Bulgaria, Hobert helped Team USA hold its own against a decorated field. None of the collegiate rowers in the American boat had been a part of the final at the IRA National Championships, but they combined on an impressive showing, nonetheless. Their fourth-place finish was a major improvement over a 10th-place showing the year before.

"As cheesy as it sounds," Hobert said, "it proves anything is possible."

Back in Foggy Bottom, GW is reaping the benefits of that experience.

Davis said Delaney is a much more mature rower these days. He's much more consistent this year, refusing to let the small mistakes that are bound to happen in practice knock a workout off track. It's an attitude that's spread to the rest of the squad.

Hobert's confidence is understandably higher after his turn on the international stage, and Davis said the junior has stepped up as a leader by example, in and out of the water. It's a daily challenge for the rest of the Colonials to try to match his intensity.

Davis has counted on them to be steady as GW's top boat has gotten used to rowing together. There have been some expected growing pains, but the group is starting to round into form with an eye on peaking for the IRA National Championships in June.

Then, there's the longer term effects. Davis has already seen the benefits in recruiting to be able to point to a ready path to the top level of the sport.

"A lot of kids here in the U.S. think that they have to go row for four or five programs if they want to make the national team," Davis said. "What we can show them is that's not true. It helps us kind of open the door and have those conversations with some top recruits that we might not have been able to have in the past."

Delaney and Hobert are proud to do their part.

Both are hoping to compete internationally again this year. Delaney is trying to make the squad for the World Championships in Bulgaria in September with an eye on the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, while Hobert takes aim at the U-23 World Championships in Poland in July.

It's a dream come true to be a part of Team USA. And an honor to do it representing GW, as well.

"I know Ã¢â‚¬" and I think Bob would say this, too Ã¢â‚¬" we didn't make the national team on our own," Delaney said. "We couldn't do this by ourselves. It's taken a group effort. It takes a village, and the team here is our village."