Issue link: http://www.wacmagazine.com/i/124277
to put it another way: networking opportunities are limited in a fourman boat. For Hans, who gets most of his exercise on the water, club membership has been more about personal advancement than pumping iron, and John has been introducing him to potential business contacts. "You want to meet as many people as you can before you start your training," John says. "You don't want the Olympics to end and be saying, 'what do i do now?'" Business training John boils down his advice to two essentials: "network and figure out what your passion is." For Hans, maybe it'll be entrepreneurship. as part of a class at uw, Hans and three classmates launched BeerPaper. the company sells handmade paper made from spent hops, a byproduct of the beer brewing process. Hans heads up sales and marketing for the company, which at first focused on selling the paper as stationery to bars and breweries. when that didn't work, they moved on to turning the paper into greeting cards for beer lovers. "i've learned that a good idea doesn't necessarily make a good business," Hans says. "there have been a lot of hard lessons and some easy ones." Hans' business career went on hold this spring when he moved to the Bay area to train with a four-man crew at California rowing Club under coach Bernhard stomporowski. Hans and the team hope to qualify for the world Championships later this year in south Korea. But, truly, his focus will be on getting as good as he can by the 2016 Olympics in rio de Janeiro. Maybe someday the waC archive will have a special file just for Hans. "there's no reason the u.s. can't be competitive in scull events," he says. "we have the athletes and we have the coaching. gold is definitely within reach." " My last goal is the Olympics." Winging it Kevin Durant. MiCHaeL PHeLPs. serena wiLLiaMs. all three can claim to be america's best at an Olympic sport. now, so can waC member Mike Palefau. Mike was Rugby Magazine's u.s. rugby sevens Player of the Year for 2012. and, in case you haven't heard, rugby sevens will be part of the next summer Olympics. rugby is one of two new sports at rio 2016. (golf is the other, so you can add tiger woods to the list, too.) rugby's appointment to the Olympic roster came just in time for Mike, who at 31 is near the end of his playing days. "My last goal is the Olympics," he says. "after that, i'm done." On his lunch break, dressed business casual, Mike's a mild-mannered guy with an easy smile who'll admit he's breathing a little hard because he went for the extra-spicy chicken at his favorite lunch spot. You wouldn't dream there's a video on Youtube called "Mike Palefau shows how to run over someone." He began playing rugby at age 19 as a way to stay in shape for his favorite sport, football. a u.s. national rugby team coach spotted Mike and helped him convert from a college football cornerback to a professional rugby winger. now, after >> MAY 2013 | Washington Athletic Club Magazine | 29