Whale of a story

Two brothers fishing of the coast of New Hampshire captured a video of a humpback whale breaching and landing hard on another boat.

It’s a shocking sight. But, if you’re a Flyer, what you also noticed onscreen was the all-caps “DAYTON” in red across the chest of the blue sweatshirt worn by the teen at the helm.

The video, captured by Colin Yager, 16, played in July on national news and across social media — and was shared widely among alumni, including to this magazine. It shows Wyatt Yager, 19, bringing their boat around to help rescue the two fishermen thrown into the water by the impact of the whale. The two men were unharmed.

Wyatt Yager was repping Dayton thanks to his Flyer cousin, Nolan Yager ’21, who earned a business degree in economics and operations and supply management.

Wyatt Yager told WDTN News, “He gave me that shirt, I think, for a birthday present a few years ago. I love wearing it because I wear it around meeting people that go, ‘Oh, you go to Dayton?’ I’m like, ‘No, my cousin did,’ but they tell me the stories about how they went to Dayton or something like that.”

Now Flyers have another story to tell — about the heroism of the man wearing a Dayton sweatshirt who saved the fishermen from the whale.

Video credit: Courtesy Colin Yager