"They had me out on the water the next day," he says. He has been rowing ever since.

Ruckman's experience as a lightweight member of Harvard crew, including the men's varsity team that won first place at last year's collegiate nationals, has unearthed a love for crew so intense he can't let the sport go.

He has decided to compete solo after graduation in hopes of making the United States National Crew Team next spring.

He will spend this year almost exclusively in training, first on his own, then continuing in the winter with the coach from the national team.

He says, "You can't afford when you are training full-time to do much work." He adds that "rowers are notorious for being poor."

A man of simple needs, Ruckman looks forward to camping with his fellow rowers along the edges of lakes and rivers.

Ruckman says he is willing to make such sacrifices for crew because of the personal satisfaction it gives him.

"Crew is a constant experiment, a constant learning process," Ruckman says. "Crew is at heart a very simple sport; you can learn in a day, and it takes a lifetime to master." He says that is why "it is always a challenge."

Ruckman believes his year on the river will be "a good break from academics for me. Everyone encourages you to take a year or two years off. This gives me time to ponder."

He says he is unsure of what he wants to do after rowing, but the believes this experience will influence his career goals. Though business or law school have both crossed his mind, he says, "It would be really neat to coach internationally."

But it may well be a while before he does anything but row. Ruckman cites the "outside chance that I will stick around for four years and make a shot at the 2000 Olympics."

Changing the World, One Rock at a Time

Allison E. Rainey '96 says rock climbing "is the most absolutely demanding combination of mental and physical."

Rainey began climbing her senior year in high school after a friend who climbed suggested she try it. By the time he quit soon after, she was already eagerly engrossed in learning more about the sport from other climbers.

Though she has never had a lesson, she says she was ranked 40th in the country during her sophomore year. In recent competitions in New York and Connecticut she has taken first and third respectively.