While most physics teachers talk about quantum mechanics and gravitational acceleration, physics teacher Allison Frykman has something else to talk about: crew. Although during the day, Frykman is a physics teacher, after school hours end and students return home, she transforms into a part-time coach for the nationally ranked Norcal crew team.

For Frykman, rowing runs in the family. Frykman’s father, Dick Lyons, was an Olympic rower and got her started with the sport early on. “I started to row before I could even walk,” Frykman said. “It’s funny because at first, I was terrified of boats, but then I fell in love with them.” Frykman’s husband and mother-in-law also row.

As a freshman at Palo Alto High School, Frykman started a crew club that evolved into the Palo Alto rowing club when she was a senior. During her junior year, Frykman helped start and row for another organization, the Silicon Valley Crew club, which then evolved into the current Norcal Crew club.

The then-Silicon Valley Crew club also offered Frykman her first competitive experience. Frykman rowed while she was an undergraduate at Stanford University. However, conflicting schedules between schoolwork and rowing caused her to give up rowing. She then decided to pursue her passion in another form: coaching.

Before Frykman became a teacher, she coached full-time for the men and women’s crew team at the Norcal Club. The club’s athletes range from 13 to 18 years of age. There are four different teams: novice men, novice women, varsity women, and varsity men. The four main coaches for these teams are program director and novice men’s coach Mike Still, novice women’s coach Jenifer Aguirre, women’s head coach Wayne Ricket and men’s varsity coach Kristin Goodrich. Frykman currently works with the varsity crew teams.

Frykman’s experience working with young rowers prompted her to become a teacher. “I loved physics and I loved rowing so I decided to do both,” she said. And as she gets more comfortable with the school environment, Frykman hopes to balance full-time coaching with school. “I hope that as I gain more experience teaching, I can spend more time coaching,” Frykman said.

Rowing has helped Frykman meet new people and cement life-long friendships. “Even nowadays, I row with many of my former friends and it’s a bonding experience for us,” she said. “Some of my very best friends were also crew members.”

Frykman’s years of crew have left her with many fond memories. “My most memorable event was when I rowed at the head of the Charles River, the largest regatta in the world, in Boston,” Frykman said. “I remember that there were more than 300,000 spectators and it was a three mile race. This year, the varsity women ended up taking second place at the event.”

Science teacher Lisa Wu, who has also rowed before, agrees that balancing crew and teaching is very difficult. “To spend additional time coaching says a lot about Ms. Frykman’s dedication to her students and her athletes,” Wu said. “All of the work she’s done, though, hasn’t been taken for granted. I only hear positive things about her teaching from my past students, so I’m sure it’s similar for her athletes.”

So what is Frykman’s definition of crew? “Crew is about dedication, hard work, team work and spirit,” she said. “It’s about waking up at 4:00 a.m. every day to practice, it’s about being on time and not letting your teammates down and it’s about giving 120 percent physically and mentally when nothing is left.”

Although crew is a growing sport on the west coast, the sports is firmly rooted on the east coast. The first intercollegiate competition was between Yale and Harvard in 1852. It evolved into a sport steeped in tradition and history.