[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 127 (Friday, October 8, 2004)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1840]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




        CONGRATULATION TO THE U.S. MEN'S ELITE EIGHT ROWING TEAM

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. JOHN N. HOSTETTLER

                               of indiana

                    in the house of representatives

                       Wednesday, October 6, 2004

  Mr. HOSTETTLER. Mr. Speaker, forty years is a long time to wait for 
anything But sometimes a dream deferred is all the sweeter when it 
finally comes true.
  Nobody knows that better than Dan Beery, a native of Oaktown, Indiana 
and a member of the U.S. Men's Elite Eight rowing team. It was Dan and 
his teammates who won the gold medal at the Olympic Games in Athens on 
Aug. 22. They set a world record when they did it. It had been 40 years 
since the U.S. won that Olympic event.
  Dan's story is an inspiration. He grew up in a small town in Indiana. 
He played football and basketball at North Knox High School. He began 
his college career at Vincennes University and eventually transferred 
to the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga, where his life would be 
changed by a providential meeting. In 1997, Dan was playing a game of 
pickup basketball when the coach of the crew team walked by. The coach 
stopped and asked the six-foot-seven Hoosier to try out for the rowing 
team. Dan did and quickly showed potential. And while he became a good 
college rower, he failed to make the national team 5 years in a row.
  But Dan would not give up. He devoted himself to his training. He had 
the ardent support of his parents, Jim and Merry Beery, who still live 
in Oaktown, and his sisters, Meredith and Marsha. And the whole 
community rallied behind Dan with support and fundraisers.
  This small-town unity of spirit made a difference. When he returned 
to Knox County with his gold medal, Dan told a local newspaper that the 
one question people ask him the most is how he became an Olympic 
champion considering most in the sport are from Ivy League 
universities.
  ``My answer is how could I not?,'' Beery said. ``I came from a place 
with warm and loving people who supported me no matter what.''
  Dan's determination paid off. He made the national team and in the 
2002 World Championships won silver in the men's pair with coxswain 
event. At the 2003 World Championships, he won gold.
  Earlier this year, Dan was a member of the four-man crew that won 
gold at the 2004 World Cup in Lucerne, Switzerland. Following that 
success, he was moved into the eight for the Olympic games in Greece. 
It was that crew that surged early and won the first gold for the 
United States in four decades.
  His crew also included Jason Read, a volunteer firefighter who was at 
ground zero after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
  Mr. Speaker, Dan Beery is an inspiration to young people who dare to 
dream big dreams. He is the pride of his community. Dan embodies the 
American dream, where hard work and perseverence, combined with the 
encouragement and support of family and community, great things can be 
achieved.
  Dan himself says it best: ``Just because you're from a little town in 
Indiana doesn't mean you can't make it to the Olympics and win.''

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