A Giant Who Limps Or…Can a Coxswain Ever Win MVP?

One of the first stories published on Cliff’s ‘Corner’ (recently renamed Nub’s Nuggets) - featured Patrick O’Rourke – a Seattle-based Irishman - who is one of the legendary soccer minds in local, youth and global markets of the world. He walks with a limp - from a knee replacement he is still rehabilitating. Our current ‘subject’ - DWIGHT GEORGE “DUEY” PHILLIPS – also walks with a limp! But, for ‘Duey’ it was not the usual wear and tear that led to his ‘limp’!

Dwight’s came from an improbable – and UNWELCOME - ‘visitor’ when he was 12 years old. The ‘visitor’? POLIO! It was a dreaded disease that left millions of people dead, and millions more paralyzed or incapacitated in many ways.

One of the most notable cases was Franklin D Roosevelt, the 32^nd President of the United States. He was diagnosed with polio in 1921 and spent the rest of his life in a wheelchair. But, true to form – and his fighting spirit – he established the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis which later became known as The March of Dimes.

NEWS RELEASE: “We interrupt this narrative to yield to a much more eloquent and comprehensive account of Dwight’s early life written by the late, honorable, Georg (true spelling) N Meyers who, as longtime Senior Sports Editor for the Seattle Times, produced the June 3, 1971, article on Dwight which is far more comprehensive than I can produce.

“By the time Dwight Phillips was in the seventh grade he already was recognized as a budding athlete. He was fast and agile, tireless and eager. A throbbing in his left leg he passed off as “growing pains.” One day, when Dwight was walking the knee gave out. It was two weeks before the distress was diagnosed. “It didn’t seem possible”, Phillips said. “We thought polio had been wiped out. I had all my shots!” It took me a year, to adjust,” he said. “It seemed like the end of the world to think I could never get into any sports. That was then. Now it’s no big deal.”

Phillips, from that time to this day, walks with a metal brace anchored in his shoe. But due to his undying – and unequaled - spirit he became a University of Washington Crew team Coxswain because he could not tolerate the idea of going to college without being in some kind of sport.

Nub’s Nuggets continued…

Jonas Salk and Albert Bruce Sabin - physicians and scientists - became known worldwide for discovering a remedy for the dastardly culprit Polio…the COVID of our time! At that time getting vaccinated for measles, diphtheria, smallpox, and a host of other potential maladies, was a normal routine, if not a compulsory requirement for people everywhere. And contrary to the divisive elements surrounding the issue of vaccinations today, the medical policies of that time meant that getting vaccinated was automatic as a preventative program for the disease of the day! In other words, vaccinations were matter-of-fact decisions made by parents, schoolteachers, and other authorities, who were part of everyday life. Furthermore, it is important to know that Dwight had been vaccinated for polio. 

Dwight’s nickname ‘Duey’, is a moniker given to him by one of his University of Washington Crew members. Most of us prefer Dwight to Duey, but by nickname or not, he was the COXSWAIN extraordinaire that won National and a host of other awards placing him and his teammates on USA teams competing at two world rowing championships during the years from 1970 through 1973. Most notable was his team’s appearance at the 1971 Pan American Games held in Cali, Colombia, where they won the silver medal. In addition, they won several ‘meets’ during their final years at the University Washington.

There is a whole lot more but, first, back to the ‘limp’ – and a little more background.

Dwight was born February 5, 1948, as child #3 joining older brother Philip - known as ‘PG’ – and sister Alice Jo - who bore the second set of initials AJ. Dwight was named after his Dad’s WWII buddy. His dad, whose name was Phil, was born in Colorado, the second youngest of eight children. His mother, Terry Tolin, was born July 1916 in St. Joseph, Missouri. They married in 1940 and, later, both worked at Boeing where they survived the carnage of the late ‘60’s and early ‘70’s. It was about that time Boeing fired everyone in the universe some of whom paid for the infamous 1971 billboard picturing a single lightbulb - with a chain switch hanging down – and the caption: “The last person leaving Seattle, please turn out the lights!” 

Adding a few more details to how the “limp” occurred: In 1960 – at age 12 - Dwight, (with his ‘blue collar’ family - who had moved a few years earlier from Seattle’s Wallingford area to Kirkland, Washington…) attended Central Grade School, and later, Lake Washington High School. It was the latter where – as a member of the LW Kangaroos – he quickly became known as one of the more talented kids in his school. He was ‘good all-around’ with exceptional athletic abilities, winning almost every race he entered.

To expand on Georg Meyers’ article: One day, after the move to Kirkland, he was ‘headed’ to Waverly Beach - to take a lifeguard test - when, suddenly, SPLAT! There were no rocks, loose pebbles, curbs, or school ‘bullies’ - nor any other visible ‘stumble factors’ but - all other possibilities notwithstanding – Dwight’s leg buckled below him, and he found himself ‘flat’ on his face.

He recalls being aware that he had a fever, but with no other signs - headache, nausea, or lightning strikes - he managed to get to his feet and continue to Waverly Beach. Not long after he arrived it became obvious to Dwight - and others – that he was not well.

His family doctor announced that Duey was a victim of a rare strain of the Polio virus. The doctor added that, even with vaccinations, he was only one of the two or three in the Western United States that had been infected.  Keep in mind the year was 1960, well after Sabin and Salk made their famous speech to 2,000 kids in Pittsburgh, where they accented their ‘victory’ speech with the closing comment: “….we were not able to discover the cure in time to save our generation but thank God we did it in time to save yours.” Disclaimer: Except for Duey!

Incidentally, on that fateful day, they closed Waverly Beach and Duey was taken to Seattle’s Children’s Hospital where he spent the next two-and-a-half months in ICU. In addition to the disease, during that incumbency, his left leg muscles atrophied and, when he was released from the hospital, he returned to the seventh grade – with a limp - his new mobility a pair of “old wooden crutches”!

It is at this point that many see themselves as ‘victims’ and spend their remaining years with some degree of self-pity.

NOT DUEY!

He learned to “fly” on those feeble sticks masquerading as ‘legs’ and, when dared by his friends, to travel from one end of the Kirkland Jr High football field to the other – without falling - he “took off” and not only ‘flew’ – like a two-legged spider (with the tips of his crutches touching the ground…) – but also returned as added proof that he might be considered handicapped by others – but, for certain proved otherwise.

Eighteen months later he ‘graduated’ to a cane which he used for the next two years until he was consigned to navigating with a limp for the rest of his life. As for Duey’s family – to their everlasting credit – they never ‘pitied’ him, and he never gave ‘self-pity’ a chance. Indeed, to this day no such expressions even remotely show traces of blame or maudlin regrets in his words or attitude.

Both PG and AJ chose the University of Washington, so when the time came for Dwight to choose, to no one’s surprise it was UW. About this time Dwight read a posted notice that there was an opening for the first-year crew team and, since no one came knocking at his door he said: “I found them; they did not find me!”

As for the details, in the fall of 1966 Dwight was 5’7” and knew he was not going to “make it” as a rower so coach Dick Erickson - viewing him as one of 15 “little guys”- listed him as a Coxswain! (That was then. Today, particularly after the global success of “The Boys in the Boat”, all crew members – including Coxswains - are recruited.)

It's also important to know that Coxswain’s role is much like the quarterback in football, the catcher in baseball and the goalie in hockey. Just how important the role is best summed up in the Foster School of Business Magazine article by its managing editor, Ed Kromer, whose exhaustive article “Coxswain My Coxswain” tells an unparalleled story of Coxswains.

“Viewed from the distance of the shore, the motion of the vessel and her crew appears fluid, almost balletic. The sleek shell skims across the racecourse swiftly, elegantly, the crisp whoosh of eight oar blades flashing through the water in perfect parallel, the swing of eight torsos in metronomic sync.

Except for a ninth figure, smaller than the rest, at the stern of the boat. He sits hunched over the gunwales, lurching forward and aft with each powerful pull of the oars. His gaze is alert, like a bird’s, darting between his cockpit computer, the linear engine of bodies and blades before him, the movements of the competition off to starboard and port. His sharp, staccato commands piercing the rising roar of the crowd lining the Montlake Cut. exhorting his charges toward the finish. Asking for more.

“A lot of people undervalue Coxswains,” says Michail Callahan, the head coach of the vaunted UW men’s rowing program. “I almost do the opposite. They must articulate strategy and tactics and get people to execute them. They must analyze and adjust on the fly. But most of all, they must unify the crew, get everyone moving together. That’s what Washington’s legendary master boat-builder George Yeomans Pocock – of The Boys in the Boat fame - called swing. It’s the story of rowing.”

Our Dwight Phillips (BA 1971) found a fitting competitive outlet in the Coxswain seat at the UW, leading a major renaissance in Husky Rowing. In 1970, his junior varsity eight contributed to the school’s first IRA national title in 20 years, then represented the USA as a four in that year’s World Rowing Championships in Canada. (And even after graduation, his Husky pair-with-coxswain competed in the 1973 World Championships in Russia.)

Dwight, who was elected team captain in his senior season, gives us an ‘inside’ look into the art of rowing: “We had some wonderful athletes who I, jokingly, say gave me a ride around the world!”

Now for some more good stuff: After a stint in coaching, he embarked on a long career in banking professionally executing administrative and leadership duties which earned him the role of Senior Vice President of Columbia Bank a position he held for over 20 years.

When asked how his experiences, ‘coxing’ - in some of the world’s premier rowing events - influenced his life in general, and the financial world in particular, Dwight responded: “The best way I can articulate how rowing - i.e. ‘coxing’ - helped me in the business world is: “Rowing, much like other team sports has the feature of athletes facing daily training and racing challenges for the individual as well as for the team. Whether a novice or veteran the one constant is adversity. So, to succeed one needs to see those not as mini setbacks but rather as opportunities to improve. With positive attitudes athletes on a team, much like business folks, will achieve a mutually beneficial outcome. Listening to your coach and listening to a business customer have a lot in common!”

Given all his travels, conquests in the UW boats, accolades, cheers and applause – as well as overcoming impossible odds in his personal life – when asked what he is most proud and grateful for – his unequivocal answer is: “My greatest pride today is my daughter Amy, an accomplished nurse, and my son, BJ, a CFO for a successful northwest business.” In addition, he swells with emotion and great pride for granddaughters Ava (14) and Elodie (12).

ED NOTE: Nub’s Nuggets is devoted to highlighting the lives of those individuals who inspire and encourage fellow ‘travelers’ who may need an extra boost when faced with challenges that may seem overwhelming.

I know – as an 8-yr old - who blew off part of my left hand with dynamite and had to learn to tie my shoes with two fingers – he is an awesome inspiration and hero to me!