THE UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON DYNASTY www.huskycrew.org: “Washington trailed early, but at the three-mile mark began to move. Clipping by Pennsylvania, Columbia and Wisconsin in the final mile, the crew fell short, about a length behind the winner, Syracuse, and runner-up Cornell. “Although Elmer Leader1581 rowed a good portion of the race with broken foot straps, it was more a case of inexperience and a late sprint that cost Washington the victory.”1582 That year, Leader1583 Callow,1584 “Ed and Rusty both future George Grantham Bain Collection (Library of Congress) Prints and Photographs Division (LC-B2-2710-18) Conibear in Poughkeepsie, 1913 coaches at Washington and elsewhere, rowed 2-seat in the eight and 3- seat in the four, respectively.”1585 Origin of Conibear’s Technique “Conibear himself, when asked what style of stroke he advocated, was said to have growled in reply, the ‘get-‘em-there stroke.’”1586 Let’s see. Courtney had the “hard pull” stroke. Ten Eyck had the “get-there stroke.” Now we have the “get-’em-there stroke.” It’s no surprise that these men enjoyed each other’s company very much every year in Poughkeepsie. There are many theories about who should get the credit for being Hiram Conibear’s inspiration. 1581 brother to Ed Leader. See below. 1582 www.huskycrew.org 1583 See Chapter 52. 1584 See Chapters 53 and 64. 1585 Beck, Ch. IV, p. 11 1586 S. Pocock, p. 56 Kelley: “At the height of the discussion of his stroke, there were those to hold that he had taken it from others. The most popular theory was that it was, in essence, the old Bob Cook stroke from Yale . . . Certain Cook principles seem to have been incorporated in the stroke as rowed by Washington under Conibear.”1587 Analysis of the Conibear Stroke will reveal that it actually had very little in common with the Cook Stroke. Mendenhall: “Some of Conibear’s admirers, chauvinist in their own way, have seen his stroke as totally original, especially owing nothing to Cook or Courtney. Obviously, Conibear used anything he could get his hands on or devise for himself – digesting, refining and discarding as he went along.”1588 Conibear, himself, wrote, “It has always been natural with me to observe and 1587 Kelley, p. 228 1588 Mendenhall, op.cit., p. 15 425
