'So, Tim came down and I gathered up a crew of people and he went out with us in the eight,' Ahrens said.

teammate, made a call, left a message and heard back from Mickelson, 'I think in about twenty-seconds.' Mickelson, Ahrens said, showed up and just started teaching and putting things together. Rowing became a passion for Mickelson and he continued in the sport where he could, helping to coach his son Todd's high school team later, when asked by Ahrens, he helped energize and put together and train a group at the Milwaukee Rowing Club for the 1985 world masters championship in Toronto, Canada.Īs Ahrens recalls, he got Mickelson's name from a 1974 U.S. Strokes and racing experience are nice, but born-to-win is better, and that is who Tim was,' Clark said.

Even in the modern collegiate landscape which is utterly different from the 60's, fellows that fit Tim's mold are as rare as they are coveted. 'As far as Olympians go, yes, he is in the Wisco Pantheon a walk-on Badger who went all the way. 'While there are a lot of successful personalities that make it to the top in rowing, guys that give off the unspoken vibe of competitive menace are underrepresented. 'I don't profess to have known him well but the few times I did meet him, I came away thinking about his intensity,' said current Wisconsin head coach, Chris Clark. Two years later, Mickelson rowed on the men's eight that won the world championship in Lucerne, Switzerland. He was selected to row at the 1972 Olympics where he won a silver medal, becoming the second Olympic oarsman from Wisconsin and its first Olympic medalist. national teams while still an undergraduate, and following his collegiate career, Mickelson was invited to the 1972 men's camp in Hanover, NH. Mickelson rowed for Wisconsin and on U.S. As soon as he left the team, then rowing coach Randall T. Mickelson begin his collegiate athletic career in football his freshman year, but left the team when it became clear that the time commitment would interfere with his studies. Following Wisconsin, Mickelson earned a graduate degree in biomedical engineering at Dartmouth College, and completed his formal education earning a Ph.D in Physiology (Exercise) and Anatomy at Ohio University.

He attended the University of Wisconsin, where he earned an undergraduate degree in electrical engineering.

The US 2017 Men's Eight rowing the Tim Mickelson (w/fellow Wisco grad and bowseat Tim Aghai in Wisco uni)īorn in Madison, Wisconsin, and raised in nearby Deerfield as part of close knit family that worked together on a family farm and in a family-owned and operated small town store, Mickelson's personality was developed through example and with personal values that hinged on hard work and personal integrity. 'I know that sounds old fashioned, or an odd word, but he had this single goodness. 'I met him as a friend and knew that the essential nature of Tim was goodness,' Ahrens said. The man Ahrens described as possessing an unstoppable work ethic and a 'kind and gentle soul' was the same man to everyone, friends and family members recalled this week following Mickelson's passing at home from ALS (more commonly known as Lou Gehrig's disease) early Wednesday morning. Tim Mickelson the Olympian was the same man as the guy that answered Ahrens' call when he needed help reviving the Milwaukee Rowing Club - the man who was raised in a small Wisconsin town and worked in the family grocery store, played football and then rowed at the University of Wisconsin, excelled academically and in business, married his college sweetheart, and raised a family. men's eight would have a side to him only other elite athletes would know. Gary Ahrens was sure his memories and impressions of Tim Mickelson would differ in certain ways from the men Mickelson rowed with at the 1972 Olympics and 1974 world championships.Īhrens - a self-described 'ham and egger club rower' - was certain that someone who won an Olympic silver medal and a world championship gold in the U.S.

Tim mickelson date of birth