Member profile: The Oldest Rookie
“I must be the oldest rookie ever,” chuckles Dave Leverenz, although in barbershop, an octogenarian rookie may not be as unlikely as it sounds.
At age 80, Dave Leverenz is a TWO YEAR Barbershopper, who last year received the Rookie of the Year Award from the Palo Alto - Mountain View Chapter.
While at Harvard as a Navy ROTC student, Dave rowed for house and intercollegiate teams at the highest level, including trials against a crew which went on to win Olympic gold. Following four tours in Vietnam, Dave left the Navy and pursued graduate studies in mathematics, ultimately landing him in Silicon Valley in the computer science field. His earlier interest in rowing flowered in the early 1990s, leading to a long and much decorated career at the highest levels of FISA Masters World Rowing competition, including multiple gold medals in Masters and Seniors divisions.
A longtime singer in church and folk music groups, it was only after ramping down his rowing career for medical reasons that he finally came to BHS membership. “I’d been involved in some events with the (non-affiliated) Peninsula Harmony Chorus mixed group, including a Learn to Sing community activity,” he says. Finally, he joined up with the Peninsulaires in the 2022, and with the fervor of many new Barerbshoppers, jumped in all the way. He’s now on his chapter board and guides logistics for events and conventions.
Dave sees strong parallels between barbershop and rowing. “Four people, for starters,” he notes, “All working together synchronously. Just like the oars all have to hit the water together in perfect balance, all the voices have to hit the same tempo exactly.” Timing, teamwork, focus, discipline — all the attributes of great rowing make for great barbershop harmony!
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