THE POCOCK GENERATION finally settled down to their usual beat, be- gan to gain steadily, and ended up the win- ner [by 6.8 seconds]. “I knew by the times that both Denmark and Switzerland were better than France, and they were the two crews we had to meet in the final race for the Gold.”2196 Bob Will: “We’d watched Switzerland. We figured they were the ones to beat be- cause they had times that were about even with ours, and their cadence was about the same as ours. They weren’t flailing along like some of the others were, and sure enough, they were our toughest competition in the final.”2197 A Final Adjustment George Pocock: “The day after the semi-finals was a Sunday, and there was no racing. I wanted to make good use of that time. In the excitement of two days of high- ly competitive racing, they had lost the es- sential art of keeping a strong, clean run on the boat between strokes. We went out above the [Henley] bridge where I could coach from a launch and went to work. “Good run is attained by hanging on to or ‘squeezing’ the finish [Schubschlag], at the same time returning to at least an upright position, so that the weight is out of the bow via the squeeze of the blade in the wa- ter.”2198 This was George Pocock describing in his own words his preferred ferryman’s finish, the second feature of the Pocock Stroke not emphasized sufficiently, in his opinion, as part of Al Ulbrickson’s 2nd Gen- eration Conibear Stroke. He had begun making this technical adjustment to the four back in Marlow. Gus Giovanelli recalls: “After we began practicing, he took the boat and reduced the 2196 G. Pocock, qtd. by Newell, p. 116 2197 Will, op.cit. 2198 G. Pocock, qtd. by Newell, p. 116 pitch on the riggers. This made it more dif- ficult for us to get out at the finish and forced us to drive all the way to the re- lease.”2199 Returning to that Sunday practice, George Pocock also wrote: “A coach has to be a dictator at times, and I said, ‘We are not going in until we get that run between strokes,’ and just as dusk was setting in, they made a beautiful run, the boat fairly ghost- ing along between strokes. “‘That’s it! That’s it for tomorrow. Let’s go in!”2200 Giovanelli: “That last day, George still thought Wes wasn’t getting his blade far enough into the water, so the night before the final, he went down to the boat tent and changed his oarlock without telling him. “After the race the next day, Warren said he had never been so tired in his life!”2201 The Final The New York Times: “The University of Washington Four-With-Coxswain was triumphant in the opening final event on the final day of the regatta. “The Huskies won in a hard fight with Switzerland and Denmark by one length and a quarter in 6:50.3. This was the first time [and, in retrospect, the only time in history] the United States has captured this particular event in the Olympics. “At 500 meters, Switzerland had a lead of three-quarters of a length. Washington and Denmark cut down the margin, but the Americans fell back into third place behind the Danes. Then they regained second place, but it took a tremendous effort to catch the Swiss. 2199 Giovanelli, op.cit. 2200 G. Pocock, qtd. by Newell, p. 116 2201 Giovanelli, op.cit. 607
