THE SPORT OF ROWING “It was the first time we’d raced, and we had a little problem with steering. We rowed without a rudder, and once we got straightened out, I heard one of the Callahans say, ‘They’re starting their push,’ and I about broke out laughing because we weren’t starting any push. We had finally gotten the boat going straight! “We almost caught them at the finish, but they were definitely ahead of us. “That was a Saturday. On Monday we went out and decided we needed to get some mileage, so we rowed down to ‘the brickyard.’ At Rutgers, that was a big deal, six and a half miles3255 down and six and a half back . . . and we were pretty much together after that! [laughs] “I agree with Dewey Hecht. The secret is to put everything into every stroke. We didn’t do too many 10s or anything. Tom was really good at setting a pace, and I would just stay with him. “We soon had problems with our boat, our Pocock. It was basically a double that they threw pair riggers on. It took us a couple of weeks until we got our power up and were going well, but then the compression of the port and the starboard riggers on the gunwales caused a check at the middle of the boat, and I had to repair it. “After a week or two, we went up Rudderless stern of the 1952 Rutgers University Coxless-Pair Olympic Champion, Drumsö Fjord Now on loan to Mystic Seaport from Chris and George Schuster . really couldn’t get reliable times, so we went down to Lake Carnegie for a time trial. “We normally started at 36 and settled against the New York A.C. boys again on their home course on Hunter Island Lagoon. At that time the course still had a dogleg in it, and we thought we were going to be in trouble without a rudder. But we took off, and as they say in England, we won down to 32 by 500 meters and 30 by 1,000 meters, and then at the 500 meters to go we would start taking it up again and finish at 36. Our theory was that we needed to keep the boat going the same speed all the time. 3256 See Chapter 5. 3257 Logg, op. cit. 3258 a nickname for New York Athletic Club, 3255 10.5 km. which had a winged foot on its logo. 3259 N.Y.A.C. Oarsmen Score at Pelham, The New York Times, June 16, 1952 Author ‘easily.’3256 I don’t know how much it was. It was no contest.”3257 The New York Times: “The Rutgers Rowing Club took the senior pairs 2,000 meter race, beating two Winged Foot3258 shells. Chuck Logg, Jr., bow, son of the Rutgers coach, and Tom Price, stroke, made up the winning crew. Timed in 7:38, the Rutgers oarsmen crossed the finish line four lengths ahead of their nearest rivals.”3259 Logg: “After that, we decided, well, we better go to the Olympic Trials. “With the current and tides on the Raritan River by the Rutgers boathouse, we 908
