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Stars and Stripes at the Devon Boathouse
March 21, 2011
Patrolling the streets of war-torn Iraq in the area in and around insurgent-held Fallujah was enough to keep Marine infantry officer Andrew Melander from thinking about rowing.
“That was during the surge, so there was a lot of activity,” said Melander. “Rowing was off the radar for the most part. I was focused on what I was doing.”
Today, after two tours of combat duty, totaling 14 months and five years in the Marine Corps, Melander is thinking almost exclusively about rowing. Since last August, he has been training for the U.S. men’s national team at the Oklahoma City National High Performance Training Center in the hopes of competing at the 2012 Olympic Games.
While his mind is on making the national team, Melander has never forgotten what it feels like to represent his country. His efforts to have an American flag flown over the newly constructed Devon Boathouse captured the attention of U.S. Congressman James Lankford.
In a ceremony to honor some 45 rowing and kayaking athletes training at the center, Lankford will be presenting an American flag on Tuesday, March 22 that will be raised from the newly-constructed Devon Boathouse.
“I couldn’t be more proud to participate in this event honoring an American hero and a great group of world-class athletes,” said Congressman Lankford. “Andrew Melander’s service to our nation and sacrifice on behalf of promoting freedom around the world is truly heroic, and I stand in awe of him and his accomplishments. I am pleased to present this small token of our appreciation on behalf of all Americans.
“Our best wishes and congratulations go out to all of the Olympic hopefuls training in Oklahoma City. We welcome them and appreciate their commitment to excellence."
The flag presentation will take place during a reception from 5-7 p.m., which will be open to the public. Those attending the ‘2012 – Will You Be Ready?’ event will also learn how they can get involved in supporting 2012 Olympic hopefuls.
The presentation is the result of Melander contacting Lankford’s office and asking that one be provided. Lankford not only provided the flag, but also had it flow first over the Oklahoma state capitol in honor of the Olympic hopefuls.
“Devon Boathouse is eight weeks old, but there is no U.S. flag there yet,” Melander said. “I just told (Lankford) my background and said I represented the U.S. in the Marine Corps and now I have the opportunity to represent the U.S. in another form. I told him I would appreciate the flag, and all the other athletes would too, because we realize what we’re really representing.”
Melander is among several former military personnel who are now training in Oklahoma City. He has been there since last summer when he was discharged from the Marine Corps.
After finishing high school in Mahtomedi, Minn., Melander enrolled in the United States Naval Academy, where he was first introduced to rowing.
“I didn’t row at all in high school,” he said. “My older brother suggested it to me. He wasn’t a rower, but he said it looked like a cool sport.
“Then, during the plebe summer [six-week summer training program for incoming freshmen], you have sit on the erg and pull a 500-meter piece. I ended up pulling a decent 500-meter piece, so they asked me to come out for the team.”
As required by the academy, Melander rowed with the freshman squad his first year, but made the varsity heavyweight eight his sophomore year.
“I liked the camaraderie on the team,” Melander said. “Those guys became my best friends and I probably talk to most of them once a week, just to say ‘Hey what’s going on?’”
After graduating from Navy, Melander chose to join the Marines – something that a small portion of every class is allowed to do.
“I just wanted the challenge,” he said. “People that graduated before me and did that enjoyed being a Marine. The people that I talked to enjoyed the camaraderie. It was something similar to being on the rowing team and I wanted that challenge.”
Melander served two separate deployments to Iraq and then served out his final year in a training platoon in the South Pacific. While he was stationed in Japan and getting ready to transition back to civilian life, Melander was trying to decide what to do.
“I was actually debating if I wanted to stay in the Marine Corps. But then I talked to [2008 Olympic men’s eight coxswain] Marcus McElhenney, who is a buddy of mine, and I said, ‘Hey, I’m interested in rowing again. What do you think?’”
McElhenney encouraged Melander to meet with John Parker, USRowing’s head lightweight coach who also oversees much of the training in Oklahoma City. Parker sent Melander a training plan and asked him to submit erg scores.
“We were in Okinawa at that point, and getting ready to transition with another battalion,” Melander said. “[Parker] gave me workouts and had me pull a couple of erg tests. Then he gave me an opportunity to come here [to Oklahoma City].”
While the U.S. rowing team was preparing for the 2010 World Rowing Championships in New Zealand in late October and November last fall, selections were being made for entries into the 2010 Head of the Charles. Melander ended up racing a four, and winning.
“I was eight weeks into rowing at that time,” he said. “They were having some selections with boats and they put me in the four. It was pretty good to come back and win a race – the first race I did after five years.”
As for the boathouse flag and his role in the ceremony, Melander said he’s hoping it will give the athletes at Oklahoma City that much more motivation.
“I wasn’t really thinking it was going to turn out to be something like this. I just wanted to get a flag. You look at the flag each day and it kind of fuels the fire. Everyone realizes that we’re representing something bigger than just USRowing, or Oklahoma City. We’re representing the U.S., so I thought maybe it would push everyone a little bit more.”
Ed Moran
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