- Rusty Wailes
Richard "Rusty" Donald Wailes, a.k.a. "Perfect Oarsman" (
March 21 1936 inEdmonds, Washington -October 11 2002 onLake Washington ) was an American rower.Wailes began
sport rowing when he enteredYale University in the fall of 1954. Within two years he was part of thegold medal -winning eight-man U.S. team at the1956 Summer Olympics inMelbourne . Rusty Wailes and his Yale teammates earned a spot on the 1956 Olympic team by squaring off against other collegiate teams to see who would represent the U.S. in the eight-man Olympic event. At the Olympic trials just before heading to Melbourne, Wailes and his crewmates set a world record in 5 minutes, 52 seconds. While at Yale he was a member ofWolf's Head .Rusty struck Olympic Gold again as part of the four-man coxless crew at the 1960 Games in
Rome . That team included John Sayre and two other rowers from other colleges at the Lake Washington Rowing Club. They won thePan American Games in 1959 and then went off to the Olympics in Rome.John Sayre, Rusty, and his wife Lynne were a part of the original group, 'Sing-Out 65,' which became
Up With People . John had been a member of theMoral Re-Armament show 'Space is so Startling' (Recording year 1962). Rusty then became Dean of Men atMackinac College , which was located onMackinac Island site where Sing-Out had formed. Mackinac College was dedicated to training students who were 'Learning to learn, learning to live, and learning to lead.'In 2002, Wailes, who lived in
Woodinville , died of a heart attack while rowing on Lake Washington.External links
* [http://www.heraldnet.com/stories/04/08/09/spo_olyseries2003.cfm Bio]
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