Tapleys a crew of 4

Like his brothers before him, Elias Tapley needed to test his pain threshold in a boat.

"I had never touched an oar," said Tapley, a walk-on for the freshman heavyweight crew team at Dartmouth College. "I jumped into the water (last) fall."

Tapley's three brothers -- Isaac and twins Adam and Asa -- preceded him at Dartmouth, trying the sport for the first time in college after never dipping an oar. All four were standout runners at Cony High School, each serving as captain on the track or cross country teams during their tenures.

The physical and mental demands of crew are compatible with the characteristics of long distance runners.

"It requires a lot of brute strength, but a lot of it is cardiovascular fitness," Adam said. "It tends to be people who like to challenge themselves. One of things with rowing is the addiction to that level of pain."

Adam, 27, remains addicted to the sport and is training with the Riverside Boat Club in Cambridge, Mass., for a spot on the U.S. national team's men's lightweight eight-man boat. Isaac gave up the sport after graduating from Dartmouth in 1992 and works as an architect in Ann Arbour, Mich., while Asa left crew after a bronze medal at the NCAA championships his junior year at Dartmouth.

It was Isaac who interested Adam and Asa in crew, but that passion was passed on reluctantly to Elias.

"I hesitated to encourage him to row," Adam said. "It's such a time comitment. If crew's the right thing for you, it's good."

After graduating from college in 2003, Adam spent a year in Lyons, France, where he taught French to American students and rowed with the French national team. When he heard former Dartmouth assistant coach Bruce Smith was putting together a boat for the nationals last year, he decided to give it a shot.

Smith put together a program that dramatically improved Adam's strength. He was invited to try out but didn't make the boat. The physical and mental aspect of crew are only two-thirds of the sport's demands.

"The technical layer is so profound," Adam said. "One thing I learned this past year is how much I had to learn about rowing."

Adam is in the midst of trials this week and should know shortly whether he's one of eight to make the boat. A time trial will follow next month in Princeton, N.J.

"I think we'll make the time standard which will make us the U.S. boat for worlds," said Adam of the world championships in Eaton, England, in August.

The commitment so far has been nearly overwhelming. In addition to working 40 hours a week for a consulting company, Adam is on the water twice a day, six days a week. He gets up a 4:45 a.m., gets off the water at 7:30 and heads to work.

"My life has been pretty bizarre since I graduated," Adam said. "My experience from college has been warped because of this rowing."

None of this has deterred Elias, 20, who is training this summer -- running, lifting and working out on an ergonometer, more commonly known as a rowing machine. At 6-feet-2, 185 pounds, he is the first heavyweight in the family. The crew in a lightweight boat must average 70 kilos, or around 154 pounds, and no indivdual can weigh more than 158.

"I'm still really passionate about running but I'm giving it to crew right now," said Elias, who finished second in the Eastern Maine regioal cross country meet his senior year. "Most of my closest friends are on the crew team."

Running appears an activity the Tapleys will carry at least into middle age. Adam won his last competitive road race following his sophomore year at Dartmouth and continues to run daily, while Asa broke three hours in his first attempt at the Boston Marathon a couple of years ago. Elias will soon compete in a 200-mile relay race over 24 hours in which each leg will be close to a half marathon.

Running, though, doesn't offer the same cameraderie one gets from a team sport like crew, where the pain is shouldered collectively rather than individually.

"It's a sport where the amount of work you put into it is the amount of success you get out of it," Elias said. "You have to put it all together -- great diet, good strength regimen and also the endurance."

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