THE POCOCK GENERATION Our Bodies’ and AOB, which stood for ‘Eight Honest Boys’ or, sometimes, ‘Al’s an Old Bastard.’”2065 The challenge for Ulbrickson was to form a Varsity Eight from his deep and talented turnout. Only three men had graduated from his entire 1935 squad, which had come in third, first and first in Poughkeepsie. The cornerstone of the crew would become sophomore stroke Don Hume, but Hume recalls that the key came from the Class of ‘37, that year’s junior class: “Al was juggling people around. He had a lot of pretty good material, and he kept making changes around. “Joe Rantz had rowed number 3 in that great 1934 freshman boat, and Roger Morris had rowed number 7. He moved Roger up to bow and Joe out of 3 and down to 7 and Shorty Hunt down from 2 to 6, and pretty soon he gets out in the launch and the boat’s going to beat the dickens, and so the coach says, ‘Well, I guess I about got ‘er here.’”2066 Shorty Hunt: “So finally as a last resort he put us back together, and the boat just flew. It just absolutely did everything but take off. It’s just absolutely impossible to describe the unity that we had.”2067 In the end, three members of the 1936 Olympic crew came from the 1934 Poughkeepsie Champion Freshman Crew, three more from the 1935 Poughkeepsie Champion Freshman Crew and the last three, including the coxswain, from the 1935 Poughkeepsie third-place Varsity. George Pocock built a special shell for 1936. “He used sauerkraut juice to christen the Husky Clipper, convinced this would 2065 S. Pocock, personal correspondence, 2005 2066 Qtd. by Scott 2067 Ibid. 2068 S. Pocock, p. 273 2069 G. Pocock, KCTS-TV 2070 Robert F. Kelley, Washington Gains Sweep in Regatta at Poughkeepsie, The New York Times, June 23, 1936 help the crew that rowed it win a trip to Berlin.”2068 That year, Ulbrickson’s Washington Varsity, after beating California in their dual meet, arrived in Poughkeepsie undefeated. Narrating with real passion a film of them practicing at Poughkeepsie, George Pocock said, “You can really tell a good crew. You can tell that those men had their minds on the work. Look at the long cut they take! There’s no double-stroke there! “That was one of Al’s best crews. Don [Hume] had a natural swing. He led the bigger men. He gave them time!”2069 The New York Times: “[Coxswain Bob] Moch reflected on a practice at night on the Hudson River with this crew prior to the race, a defining moment for the team. The crew had postponed an afternoon time trial on the course because it was so windy and rough, and had gone to a movie instead. “On the water that night, he remembered, ‘It was pitch black. The wind calmed down, and after the time trial was over, we turned around and headed for the shellhouse. “‘All three crews were together. We started out, just going 26, 27 – just going home, but we got so far ahead of the other two crews that we couldn’t even hear them . . . “You couldn’t hear anything . . . “You couldn’t hear anything except the oars going into the water. It’d be a ‘zep,’ and that’s all you could hear. The oarlocks didn’t even rattle on the release.’ “A shared moment in rowing history that special crews experience still to this day.”2070 569
