THE GOLDEN AGE OF AMERICAN ROWING the Olympics in 1920 and the IRA in 1921 and 1922. As Rusty inquired about what had been happening around the country dur- ing his years away from the sport, he would have heard a great deal about Navy and their extraordinary layback. Ed Leader’s version of the Conibear Stroke had also included -40° of layback. Under Glendon’s and Leader’s influ- ence, Callow’s version included -45° lay- back, but the way the change evolved was actually quite natural. As Mike Spracklen has noted,1838 there are only three basic components to boat speed: • strength of pullthrough, • length of pullthrough, and • number of pullthroughs (stroke rating). Callow trained his crews side-by-side at full pressure over long distances at 20 strokes per minute. The competition be- tween the boats ensured that the strength of pullthrough was the maximum available. The stroke rating was fixed by the coach, and that only left length of pullthrough as a variable. Not surprisingly, consciously or uncon- sciously, the pullthrough got longer and longer as the crews attempted to best the boats beside them. 1923 Poughkeepsie Regatta Rusty’s first Varsity Eight was an ex- traordinary one. After close calls under Conibear and Leader, it became the school’s first Poughkeepsie winner. www.huskycrew.com: “On June 28th, the IRA races began in a summer rain. The Varsity race started slowly for Washington, in fifth place in the early going, but by the half mile the crews were mostly even. “Columbia, stroking at 38, moved into the lead by about a length at the mile, ahead 1838 Spracklen, RCA Coaches Conference, 2005 University of Washington Crew Archives, Conibear Shellhouse Henry John Dutton, 1923 UW 7-man: “This piece of Cornell pennant was used by Don Grant, coxswain in the Poughkeepsie Regatta, as a hand signal to let us know we were ahead of the field and to give her Hell to the finish – It worked! The year before, the front half of the boat couldn’t hear Don because of the great noise at the finish, and had they known they were ahead, they might have given that extra effort to win instead of second by a few feet.” of Washington and Navy who were even, but both stroking 32. At the halfway mark, Washington had caught a still high-stroking Columbia. “At two miles, it was Washington by a length over Navy, with Columbia now fad- ing. Coming into the last half mile, Wash- ington had some open water over Navy, but the middies started their sprint, moving quickly to close the gap. 493
