THE POCOCK GENERATION 60. Huskies versus Bears in 1948 Dual Meet – Poughkeepsie – Olympic Trials Ulbrickson and Ebright In 1940, Al Ulbrickson, the defending Olympic Champion in the eights, had anoth- er especially deep Washington squad. As he had in 1936, he again planned on entering the Olympic Trials not only with his Varsity Eight but also with the stern-four of his Jayvee Eight in the coxed-fours event. www.huskycrews.com: “Four days be- fore Poughkeepsie, they found out that the 1940 Olympics had been cancelled due to the war in Europe.”2126 This came four years after the Universi- ty of Washington Olympic triumph in Ber- lin, and “it was a tremendous disappoint- ment. Both crews went on to win the 1940 IRA, and both certainly would have been favored at the Trials.”2127 The first Olympics to be scheduled after World War II would be held in London in 1948, and Ulbrickson intended to finish the job he started in 1940. Ky Ebright also had Olympic ambi- tions, having guided California to Olympic titles in 1928 and 1932. In fact, it had been twenty-four years since a coach other than Ulbrickson or Ebright had represented the United States at the Games. But Cal rowing had been completely shut down during World War II. Ebright entered an “undistinguished” crew made up 2126 www.huskycrews.com 2127 Ibid. mostly of war veterans in the 1946 2,000- meter Lake Washington Regatta2128 and came in seventh out of eight. By 1947, the Cal Varsity came in fourth and a Jayvee made up mostly of fresh- men2129 won in Poughkeepsie. Ky would build his 1948 crew, which included five sophomores, from this boat. Team Spirit in Seattle Before it could do battle with Cal and the rest of the world, Washington had to do battle with itself. Ulbrickson had a deep squad, so deep, in fact, that he had difficulty selecting a Varsity Boat. www.huskycrews.com: “As winter gave way to spring, the crews became intensely competitive, an environment that Ulbrick- son, over the years, had consistently fos- tered. Unfortunately, by the end of the year, he had a Jayvee and Varsity crew that would not talk to each other.”2130 Bob Martin, the original Varsity 7-seat, remembers: “Our eventual Jayvee stern-four had started out as the stern-four of the Varsi- ty, but one day in late April or early May, Ulbrickson had the boats pulled together out on the water and switched all five of us, in- cluding Al Morgan, our coxswain, into the Jayvee.”2131 2128 See Chapter 63. 2129 The rules had been relaxed for the postwar period. 2130 www.huskycrews.com 2131 Martin, personal conversation, 2005 585
