INTERNATIONAL ROWING TURNS PROFESSIONAL George Bushell & Son 1948 Olympic Doubles Final 1 GBR 6:51.3, 2 DEN 6:55.3 3 URU 7:12.4 “Somewhere about 1,750 metres I came out of my coma to realize that if we could get to the finish at all, we should get there first.” – Richard Burnell way. My only feeling was, ‘Oh, God, if they do this before we start, what will they do when we’ve lost?’ “At last we got to ‘Êtes vous prêts? . . . Partez,’ and the waiting was over. We went like a shot from a gun, and I know that I did not allow myself to glance out of the boat till we were nearly a minute gone. “We were a little up, half a length I should say, as we passed the 250 metre mark, and about a length at the 500. There wasn’t much time to think, but we were holding all right at the pace, which was about 34.”2920 Bushnell: “We were about a third of the way down the Henley course when it looked to me at bow, and maybe to Dickie, that the Danes’ bow-man was going . . . Instantly, I shouted out, ‘Now Dick, yesss…’ and, 2920 Ibid. absolutely no more than two seconds later, he was shouting too, ‘Yes, now . . . ’ and, in what seemed a flash, we had taken first a length and then a length and a half off them!”2921 Burnell: “At the 750 metre flag, the Danes touched one of the buoys, and we spurted hard – no mercy in a race of that sort. It was just enough to let us steal a length and have clear water. “From the 1,000 metres to 1,500 metres was a very long way. They had a hard go at us about the 1,500 metre mark, but made little or no impression, and somewhere about 1,750 metres I came out of my coma to realize that if we could get to the finish at all, we should get there first. We kept up 2921 Allen, op. cit., p. 5 819
