3 March 2025

By Göran R Buckhorn

Chuck Alm, a member of Washington’s legendary 1958 eight, passed away on 16 January at the age of 87.
 
Charles “Chuck” Alm was born in Seattle in 1937 and attended Roosevelt High School and then the University of Washington.

Alm, who was often referred to as “The Gentle Giant”, rowed at University of Washington and was a member of the university’s 1958 eight who became legendary. In 2023, I wrote an article about crew member John Sayre, who had passed away on 9 November that year, and how the Huskies went to Henley:

In 1958, two Husky crews, an eight and a four, were taken to Henley Royal Regatta by their coach Alvin “Al” Ulbrickson, nowadays famous as the coach for “The Boys in the Boat”. It was the first time the Huskies competed at Henley. There were only five crews in the Grand Challenge Cup that year. The Washington crew were unlucky to meet the Trud Club of Leningrad, Soviet Union, in the first heat. The Russian crew had taken the silver medal the previous year at the European Championships. They had the size, age and experience – and they were known for jumping the gun. The Trud crew rowed with a much higher cadence than the American college boys, with John Sayre in the stroke seat. In pouring rain, the Huskies lost by one and a half lengths. In the final the Russians beat Leichhardt Rowing Club from Australia.

The story continues:

What [the Husky crew] didn’t know was that after Henley there had been contacts between Moscow and the US State Department where the Russians had invited the Husky crew to Moscow for a rematch between the Americans and the Trud crew. It looked like the Russians wanted to beat the Americans in front of a home crowd.

The Husky crew accepted the challenge and flew to Moscow, the first American athletes to compete behind the Iron Curtain.

The Husky crew won!

In my article about John Sayre, I tell the story about the 1958 Husky crew’s trip to Moscow. See here.

Chuck Alm also competed at the 1959 Pan American Games in Chicago, and he was selected to race in the coxed four at the 1960 Olympic Games in Rome. Coming fourth in their semifinal heat, the crew missed out to qualify for the final.

“Chuck was a giant amongst us and inspired generations of Husky oarsmen and coaches,” said the Huskey men’s head coach Michael Callahan ’96 in a statement. “I was recently reminiscing about our trip to Moscow in 2008 when we visited to commemorate the 1958 race. It was delightful for me to get to know him on that trip and I will always think of him as a friend. His words of support over the years were always appreciated and meant a lot to me.”

Charles “Chuck” Alm, born on 27 March 1937, died on 16 January 2025. He is survived by his wife of 63 years, Kristie, and their children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.