Power Fifty: A Family’s Love for Rowing

A father’s obsession with rowing becomes a family’s passion, leading to unexpected adventures on the water

Grandpa Thomas Dundon, 3rd from left. Grandpa John Dundon is the child. This is the 6 man team from Ishpeming, Michigan, 1896.

Great Grandpa Thomas rowed in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan during the 1890s, and he taught Grandpa how to appreciate the sport from an early age. Grandpa continued his love for rowing boats during his undergrad years at Notre Dame, he often opined about rowing with his college buddy, Knute Rockne.

My father was too busy playing football and running track in high school to try rowing, but once grandpa taught him, he was hooked. It was rare to be around him when he wasn’t obsessively talking about the magical healing power of rowing.

His favorite expression was that rowing would make an athlete stronger than any other sport and that you couldn’t get hurt. Strength became the hallmark of every valuable measure in life.

Here’s my father, Peter Dundon, rowing his Hoover single

Dad was hellbent that children should be taught how to row. Against the warnings from everyone at the Milwaukee Rowing Club, he attached large styrofoam blocks under the riggers of a couple training singles, sending us out on the Milwaukee River to figure it out. He’d tell everybody we were strong enough swimmers…