INTERNATIONAL ROWING TURNS PROFESSIONAL “Jim was an Eagle Scout. He had also sailed and learned all the crafts connected with that art, so when he came to Stanford, rowing was a natural for him. “Fifer had stroked his Freshman Boat, of course, and as a sophomore he stroked the Varsity Eight. The next year he was captain of the crew, and the year after that he was Commandant of NROTC.3201 “When it came to rowing, he expected everyone to work as hard as he did. 1951 Hecht: “Jimmy Beggs took some hard knocks coaching at Stanford. He was a gentleman, a prep school graduate, a Yalie, while we thought of ourselves as ‘roughs,’ and many of the oarsmen lacked appreciation for what Jim offered them. So he gave up coaching the Stanford Crew at the close of my junior year. “It was the spring of 1951. “Jim [Beggs] was always generous to me, and I was grateful for the interest he took in me. I was sorry to see him leave, and as the season wound down, I told him so. He asked if I would be interested in rowing in a pair-with-cox with the 1952 Olympic Trials in view, and if I would, who would I want to row with? “There was only one person for me – Jim Fifer.”3202 Beggs: “Fifer was not my first choice, but he certainly turned out to be most satisfactory!”3203 Hecht: “‘And so it came to pass . . . ’ that Jimmy ordered a boat from George Pocock and brought it down from Seattle after the Christmas break.”3204 3201 Navy Reserve Officers Training Corps 3202 Hecht, op. cit. 3203 Beggs, as reported by family friend Robin Atwood, 2009 3204 Hecht, op. cit. Beggs: “I’d gotten the boat all the way down to Eastside Harbor when a policeman stopped us. He said the boat was too long for the highway. I told him we were preparing for the Olympic Trials and pointed out its aerodynamic features that made it safe for the road. He let us continue on our way . . . “We had to find a place in between Palo Alto and Hayward,3205 which was the only course that could be rowed in the afternoons.”3206 Hecht: “Jimmy arranged to keep the boat in a Leslie Salt storage shed at the harbor in Redwood City. Fifer built a launching dock, and we were in business. “At the time, I didn’t know anything about what was driving Jimmy. I didn’t know anything about 1948. He must have been working to vindicate himself!”3207 1952 Hecht: “Every morning, Fifer and I turned out with the Stanford crew at stroke and 7-seat. Every afternoon, we showed up at Redwood City for our session with Beggsie. “There is no boat like the coxed-pair for teaching, particularly if your coxswain is your coach3208 and if your coach has the touch Jimmy Beggs possessed. All he asked of us was to be fit and to pay attention. The reward came in the execution, the flawless execution, of the stroke. We were soon able to realize his vision of how we should move the boat.”3209 Beggs: “What my crew did for me was to let me feel into each stroke. We made a 3205 on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay. 3206 Beggs, op. cit. 3207 Hecht, personal conversation, 2009 3208 In those days, the coxswain sat in the stern in a coxed-pair, able to closely observe the rowers in front of him. 3209 Hecht, personal correspondence, 2009 897
