BRITISH ROWING IN THE OLYMPICS started at 41, and continuing at a level 36 we were from a length to a length and three- quarters ahead all the way up the course. After the Henley Regatta three-quarter mark, we let the stroke down to 34 and paddled in firmly, easy winners. “In the final, we met the redoubtable Belgian crew, the terror of the then modern English oarsman, the crew who had beaten the famous Cambridge crowd [the second of the two 1908 British Olympic Eights entries] more easily than even we veterans had expected. “We were known to one and all as ‘the I may say our style was Old Crocks.’ admitted to be of the best, but would-be wiseacres shook their heads knowingly. “‘Wait ‘til the Belgians press them.’ “Well, I had never been beaten by either a colonial or a foreigner, and I certainly wasn’t going to be in my old age, and this my absolutely last race. “The start was beautifully level; they did 43 and we a long, crisp 42. I had never felt the like of it, and never in my life had I felt like galloping at full tilt the whole distance. “We had a quarter of a length lead at the end of a minute, and letting the stroke drop to 38, led by half a length at the end of two minutes. At the second signal box, we led by three-quarters of a length, rowing 37. Cockie [coxswain G.S. Maclagan] had warned us that unless absolutely necessary, he was not going to ask for more than one 10, and that we were to let ourselves go and give it good and strong. “The psychological moment had arrived. Cockie’s clear voice rang out immediately after the Belgians’ great spurt at Remenham Farm had subsided. “‘Now then, Leander, we’ll have our ten strokes and let them know it! One – ‘ “The boat fairly leapt out of the water, up to 38 again. We fairly sang along, cleared them at once and began sailing away. [Stroke-seat Togo] Bucknall dropped to 36 again. The race was over. We had them beat. I was all for rowing in at 40, but Cockie looked back. “‘Take it easy and keep together, Leander,’ shouted he, and we swung over the line easy winners by more than two lengths in record time.”1019 Gully Nickalls, nine years old when he watched the race from shore: “There was the nervous tension prior to the start, the sickening anxiety during the race as my mother, through her field glasses, scanned the signal boxes bordering the course which indicated the relative positions of the crews. The glimmerings of hope when we learnt that Leander had taken the lead, and the glorious, almost hysterical relief when they rowed in comparatively easy winners.”1020 The Impact of the Old Crocks By 1908, English Orthodoxy had been in decline for more than a decade, and the recruitment and success of the Old Crocks was sufficient evidence that contemporary British rowers were merely a shadow of their predecessors. The results of the 1908 Olympics prompted a thorough re- evaluation of the direction of British rowing. On the day after the Olympic final, The Times of London published a lengthy and quite knowledgeable article: “The special importance and interest of yesterday’s racing lay in the battle of styles presented in the chief event of the day – the final of the Eights between the Belgians and Leander. If the Belgians had proved successful, it would have revolutionized our ideas of rowing, and a new style – a short stroke style1021 – would have had to be taught throughout the country. “Fortunately, Leander saved the situation, and their decisive victory should 1019 Nickalls & Mallam, pp. 203-4 1020 G.O. Nickalls, Rainbow, p. 143 1021 See Chapter 72. 271
