Norman Sonju

Cornell's Freshman Crew Coach 1936-1946

Wisconsin's Crew Coach 1947-1968

Norman Sonju was a graduate of the University of Washington and member of the 1926 varsity crew along with Tom Bolles and Rollin Harrison "Stork" Sanford.  After graduation he  served as assistant to Rusty Callow, Washington's coach, and he was a faculty member at the university.  He then worked as a real estate agent in Seattle and after this took up gold mining in Anchorage/Nome, Alaska.  It was during this second career that he would hear from Sanford about the possibility of coaching a crew.  Sanford had taken the head coach position at Cornell, thanks to the help of Tom Bolles, and Sanford encouraged Sonju to take the assistant coach position.

This proved to be a wise career move for Sonju.  While at Cornell, two of the freshman crews won the freshman race at Poughkeepsie.  This led to him being selected by the University of Wisconsin to replace their head coach, Allan "Skip" Walz.  Sonju flourished at the University of Wisconsin and while they did not have any victories at Poughkeepsie, he coached winning crews.  They won the IRA regatta in 1951, 1959, and 1966.  The freshman crew won in 1964.  He was also involved in coaching the U.S. entry to the 1964 Olympics in Tokyo.  The 8 and pair with coxswain that he co-managed won gold medals.  He would also send a crew to the Henley Royal Regatta in 1967, though he was unable to attend due to illness.   He was the 2nd longest serving crew coach at the University of Wisconsin and raised the profile of the crew program with their first ever varsity 8 victory in the IRA regatta.  Sonju had clearly found his calling. 

In addition to coaching, Sonju was also an associate professor at the University of Wisconsin.  He retired from coaching and teaching in 1968.  The University of Wisconsin gives out the Sonju Award in his honor to the University of Wisconsin rower who made the biggest contribution to the success of the crew that season.

Sources about Sonju:

Wisconsin Where They Row: A History of Varsity Rowing at the University of Wisconsin by Bradley F. Taylor

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