BRITISH ROWING IN THE OLYMPICS captain of the newly formed crew.1038 This was a piece of unforgivable stupidity bound to lead to friction, as indeed it did.”1039 (As an historic aside, the choice between selecting intact crews or composite crews will continue to bedevil Olympic efforts on both sides of the Atlantic for at least another half century.) Interestingly, the selectors also changed the coach from C.D. Burnell,1040,1041 who prepared the Magdalen Eight for Henley, to C.M. Pitman,1042,1043 who took over the composite eight for the final weeks before the Olympic regatta. On this change, Gully was silent, but coaching from several consecutive coaches was by then already the norm with Boat Race crews and throughout British rowing, the presumption being that no one gentleman could volunteer for more than a few weeks at a time. Haig-Thomas & Nicholson: “There- fore, since a crew will normally have three or even four different coaches during its training period, the need for uniformity of approach and method is greater.”1044 Pitman: “English amateur rowing has always been a form of sport which can be indulged in without unduly interfering with a man’s ordinary school, university or business career. The Leander [!] crew consisted of six University men, a barrister and a clergyman, who devoted five weeks of their holiday to training. In form and in pace, they were as fine a crew as ever sat in a boat.”1045 1038 Ralph Shove in the 2-seat. 1039 G.O. Nickalls, Rainbow, pp. 82-3 1040 See Chapter 17. 1041 A Wet Henley – Five Oxford Victories – Fine Oarsmen from Magdalen, The Times of London, July 5, 1920 1042 See Chapter 15. 1043 The Leander Crew at Henley, The Times of London, August 16, 1920 1044 Haig-Thomas & Nicholson, p. 82 1045 Qtd. by Page, p. 59, 60 Gully: “[The Magdalen Eight] was the fastest crew in which I ever had the privilege of performing. My best chance of ever winning a Gold Medal. Had we been allowed to remain as a college crew we might easily have done it.”1046 The 1920 Magdalen/Leander composite British Eight lined up in the Olympic final against a crew from the United States Naval Academy. Pitman: “The Americans, with their exaggerated swing back, looked as if they had to take more out of themselves in paddling to produce the same pace as was produced by Leander.1047 The latter, in their long, steady swing, sharp beginning and well held out finish, were perfectly together and looked the picture of what an English crew should be.”1048 The Americans won, coming from behind in the last 100 meters, as will be discussed at length in Chapter 51. Gully Nickalls earned an Olympic Silver Medal to go with his father’s Gold. 1928 In 1927, the strongest squad in England had been Thames Rowing Club under the command of the elder Jack Beresford.1049 Having missed the 1908 Olympics and then having won a Silver Medal in the 1912 Games, Jack was a strong supporter of Olympic competition. As we shall discover in Chapter 25, the younger Jack Beresford had already gained a Silver in the Olympic Singles in 1920 and a Gold in 1924. For 1928 he switched to sweep rowing, and Beresford père wanted to be sure that the 1928 Thames Eight was as strong as possible for Beresford fils. 1046 G.O. Nickalls, Rainbow, pp. 82-3 1047 Note that Pitman repeatedly referred to the composite eight as “Leander.” 1048 Qtd. by Page, p. 59, 60 1049 See Chapter 23. 279
