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Wells' Summer Break Proves No Holiday As He Pursues Dual Sporting Passions
By Bill Alden
For many college kids, the summer is traditionally the time to kick back, relax, and take a break from the rigors of academia.
Rutgers University junior and Princeton resident David Wells, however, took a slightly different approach to his summer break this year as he took to the road vigorously pursuing his varied sporting passions.
After finishing his sophomore year, Wells jetted to England with the Scarlet Knight varsity heavyweight crew team. Competing in the coxless pairs competition at the Reading Town Regatta, Wells combined with teammate Chris Sullivan to win the event.
Wells and Sullivan then went on to the storied Henley Regatta on the Thames River west of London and reached the semis of the coxless pairs there, falling to a boat from Princeton University which ended up winning the competition.
Upon arriving back in the U.S., Wells put away his oar and hit the road with his bicycle. In late July he traveled to Canada and took part in a 7-day, 500-mile bike tour sponsored by the Inter- national Society of Arboriculture.
As Wells recently reflected on the athletic carousel he has been on this summer, he acknowledged that he thrives on keeping busy.
"I've had only four days off from training in the past year and a half," said Wells, a Princeton High graduate who is studying Plant Science at Rutgers' Cook College. "I took two days off after getting back from England and I got a little antsy. I'm a little tired from everything but it has been exciting."
Wells' love of endurance sports started in 1999 when he got into bicycle racing with the encouragement of Charles Kuhn of Kopp's Cycles.
"Charlie set me up with a bike and suggested that I try some races," recalled Wells, who has done the bulk of his bike racing at the Lehigh Valley Velodrome near Allentown, Pa.
"I've been racing for four years. I've been in something like 10-30 races a year at distances from 200 meters to 20 kilometers."
Wells' experience in the intense, unforgiving world of track cycling helped make his recent Canadian advenure go smoothly.
"I'm not too sore, I'm used to that from the velodrome," explained Wells. "We averaged 80-120 miles a day on the tour. We actually started in Stowe, Vt. with some great hills there."
It was a forced absence from the bike that led Wells to add rowing to his endurance portfolio. "In my freshman year at Rutgers, they wouldn't let me keep my bike in the dorm so I took it home," recalled the 6'6 Wells. "Some of the guys from the crew team saw me around and said I should try out. I guess I needed the pain I was missing from the bike so I gave it a try."
Wells quickly found that crew satisfied his need for an endurance fix. "I adapted to it well, I was used to the power needed in crew racing," said Wells. "In the fall they introduce you to the boats. In the winter they try to beat you into shape. Some of the workouts are fun but it gets tough at times."
The biggest adjustment for Wells, who did not play any team sports at PHS, was learning to rely on others. "On the bike everything is me," added Wells. "In the boat, when something goes wrong, I have to coordinate things with everyone else. Everybody has to work together."
Wells had to master a new form of working together in the boat on his recent journey as he competed in coxless pairs for the first time.
"The first varsity eight was invited to Henley and then Chris and I were selected to come along to compete in the coxless pairs," said Wells, who is working to break into the top heavyweight crew.
"We just got thrown into the pairs. It was tough because without a cox we had to do our own steering. We also needed to learn when to make our moves in the race."
The two obviously learned quickly as they made an immediate impact despite being neophytes. "We went into Reading not knowing what to expect, it was a happy surprise," maintained Wells.
"At Henley, we went back and forth with the Princeton boat in the semis but they just pulled away from us in the last 500 meters. The result was disappointing but we did end up coming closer to them than anyone else."
Wells' sports summer isn't quite finished yet as he will be competing in several events in the upcoming U.S. Cycling Federation National Track Cycling Championships which are being held at the Lehigh Valley Velodrome. "My goal is to medal at the nationals," said Wells, whose highest finish at the competition was sixth.
"I got my volume training in late due to being tied up with crew. I've been working on sprint stuff and getting sharp. August 31 is the last day of the racing. I have Labor Day off and then I start school."
If anyone deserves to take it easy
this Labor Day, it is Wells.
