THE GOLDEN AGE OF AMERICAN ROWING “A good crew ‘lets the boat run out be- tween drives; a poor crew kills its run.’”1861 Ebright even wrote something of a poem about the Conibear Stroke: Catch together, Release together, Row together. Must not miss the water. The harder you hit, the worse it goes. Back held as a column, Swings from the hips, never bent.1862 The key line is: “The harder you hit, the worse it goes.” Like Ward, Courtney, Ten Eyck, Glendon, Conibear, Leader and Cal- low before him, Ebright was a Schubschlag coach. They all believed that if you want the boat to run out between strokes, you must accelerate continuously throughout the pullthrough all the way to the finish, and a Kernschlag approach is less effective in do- ing that. Film of Ebright’s early crews shows great emphasis on body swing with a lift of the chin at mid-drive and strong acceleration to the finish. Building to 1928 The New York Times: “No new system can be developed in one season. In 1924, his crew lost to Washington by eight lengths. It was a stunning blow to all. The next year brought even more disastrous re- sults, and California trailed Washington by eleven lengths. “The 1927 outlook was better, and Ebright found himself basking in the sun- light of favor. California defeated Washing- ton for the first time in six years, and at Poughkeepsie the blue and gold shell placed third. 1861 California Lauds Coach, The New York Times, August 11, 1928 1862 Qtd. by Mendenhall, Coaches, Ch. VII, p, 9 “The 1928 curtain rolled up on a new and brilliant period. California’s perfor- mances this season are engraved permanent- ly in bold letters in the book of records. “And Ebright, the slim chap who wouldn’t quit, shared honors with the finest oarsmen California had ever produced.”1863 According to Steve Gladstone, Cal coach in 2004, things had not changed a great deal in following seventy-five years. “By 1928, it looked pretty much like what we do today: conventional, basic pattern, leg-initiated drive, suspension, etc.”1864 1928 Season T. Gary Rogers Rowing Center: “It was late in the afternoon of April 6, 1928. A raw, blustering wind blew across Lake Washington, kicking up white-caps and throwing a fine spray into the faces of the men waiting in two slim racing shells. “‘They’re off!’ went up from twenty- five thousand spectators on the banks, fer- ries and smaller craft. Off to a fast racing start, the Washington shell leaped ahead into the lead. But not for long – the cutwater of the Bears quickly forged ahead. “A mile to go and the invaders still hung on to the lead they had won shortly after the start and clung to doggedly for the first two miles. Paul Orr, coxswain of the Huskies, called for ‘Ten big ones! The biggest you’ve got!’ and the Washington boat fairly flew. But Don Blessing, at the tiller ropes of the Golden Gate, had picked up the chal- lenge before it was fairly out of his oppo- nent’s mouth, and under the magic of his shouts the California Eight responded with ten strokes that were a brand all their own and the best in the world, as they later proved. That broke the back of the Husky 1863 California Lauds Coach, The New York Times, August 11, 1928 1864 Gladstone, personal conversation, 2004 501
