Joe Rantz

Joe Rantz was born in Spokane, Washington in 1914, where he lived with his father after he lost his mother at the age of 3. However, his father remarried and moved to Sequim with his young wife when Rantz was 15. Joe was a growing boy, so he was very challenging to keep fed, so Joe's step- mother insisted they leave him behind.

Joe Rantz playing his banjo on his deck (northwestprimetime.com (Judith Willman))

He did his best to take care of himself, he searched for ways to make money so that he could support himself. Joe eventually moved in with his brother, Fred, and he was able to attend and graduate from Roosevelt High School. While at school, he took up gymnastics and proved to be a strong athlete. After his graduation, he took a gap year, so that he could work and save money to attend college.

Joe enrolled at the University of Washington, after catching the attention of prestigious crew coach Al Ulbrickson. Ulbrickson saw Joe's competitiveness and work ethic that reflected potential to make a strong rower.

Joe had to support himself through the Great Depression so that he could stay in school and row. He worked grueling and physical jobs that hardened him for the rowing season. With grit and the unyielding will to succeed, he was able to earn enough money in a desperate time so that he can learn, row, and survive.

The margin of victory (USA is far boat) (heraldnet.com (Rich Myhre ))

Joe never lost a race during his time at Washington. The coaches noticed that whenever he was taken out of a boat, the boat slowed down. His sophomore year, he found his way into the seven-seat of the varsity eight. Joe became one of eight other sons of loggers, shipyard laborers, and farmers that went on to win the 1936 Intercollegiate Rowing Championships, beat their arch rival, University of California Berkley, and eventually the mighty Ivy leagues of the East. Once they declared their dominance across the nation, Joe and his fellow teammates earned a ticket to Berlin to compete in the 1936 Olympics.

Joe and his team were rowing against Hitler. The Germans had been training to be the dominant figures in the Olympic games that year, and displayed themselves as a force to be reckoned with. However, the American boat made it to the final, and were placed in lane six (the far lane) of Lake Grunau. But when the race started, the American boat did not hear the call and they remained stationary. Joe realized that everyone else had taken off and yelled, "Let's get out of here! The race has started!"

Joe's boat was in last place at the 1,000 meter mark, which is the halfway mark, but after a strong and frantic surge they passed Great Britain, Hungary, Switzerland, Germany, and finally the Italians in the last ten strokes of the race. The United States won by six-tenths of a second.

When Joe returned to the United States he and his teammates were heroes, recognized as the boat that stunned Hitler. He also graduated from Washington in 1939 with a chemical engineering degree and he married the love of his life, Joyce Simdars. He moved with her to Seattle, and had five kids.

Joe and his eight other boat-mates were inducted into the USA National Rowing Hall of Fame.

In my opinion as a rower, Joe is the definition of resilience. He found a way to support himself after his family left him during The Great Depression, and eventually go to college where he would excel in athletics and academics. Joe turned himself into somebody from scraps and mental grit. I believe everybody could learn something from Joe Rantz's story.