THE SPORT OF ROWING “Bending among his men on a mid- thwart, he had swept with them to shouting triumphs on home waters. “Now he led them forth – bronze- skinned ones – to conquer the oarsmen of the world, as warlike Menelaus led the bronze-greaved Argives against Troy of old. “Would his heart and theirs be stout enough? Could he counsel and exhort them to his Nation’s glory? “Arthur Brisbane, famed editorial- writer, pictured Rockefeller haranguing his men, stirring them with winged words, plucked bright and burning from the original Greek of the first Olympic leaders. “‘Remit naught of your fierce ardor!’ he may cry in mid-Seine. “Or, in the lockers ere the race begins: “‘Subjects for disgrace, are ye not ashamed? Why stand ye here astounded, like fauns?’”1822 Spock continued the narrative: “On ar- rival in France on June 28th, the Olympic Village in which the Americans were housed had already filled, and there was no room for us. The only place we could get in were some huts right near the track and field sta- dium, where we were with the extras of the various teams who had come in late. They were miserable quarters. Our nearest and dearest neighbors were Estonian weight lift- ers. “The beds were uncomfortable and the mosquitoes terrific. The representative of the Yale Rowing Committee was very near- ly murdered in trying to make us feel better by referring to the noise of the taxi horns outside his accommodations at the Ritz Ho- tel. “While we stayed outside the stadium, we had some interesting times. I saw Paavo Nurmi, the Flying Finn, establish two world’s records within 25 minutes of each other in the 1,500 and 5,000 meter races. 1822 Olympians, Time Magazine, July 7, 1924 1924 Olympic Games, Paris “It was very interesting to watch the training for the various events. “We were in these quarters for four nights. We then moved into some quarters in a suburb of Paris, where we were superb- ly housed and fed. We went by motorbus to the boathouse where our shells were kept and had two workouts a day, except on Sun- days. “Our shells were late in getting to Paris, and our first turnout in our own craft was on the 30th. “The other countries represented were Canada, Great Britain, Holland, Belgium, Argentina, Italy, Spain, France and Austral- ia. “Due to our separate location, we really had no chance to see anything of those from other countries. The French were annoyed because they asked us down for a cham- pagne party two days before the race, and we refused. IOC 484
