THE SPORT OF ROWING deleterious influence by introducing a pseudo-American style and by preaching a gospel of fanatical fitness to the exclusion of all technique.”2928 Davidge was not exaggerating. Historian John Hall-Craggs: “The great thing about Colin Porter is that, in effect, he ended the impact of the war, which had interrupted the training regime that there had been in the ‘30s. Partly it was that most crews were only allowed to go out three times a week, and secondly they had no food. It was Colin Porter who broke through and reestablished, albeit at a higher level, that element of training. “However, it was training at the expense of quality of oarsmanship. He was a hideous looking oar,2929 but he was tough. He made his crews really sharp.”2930 Colin Porter had learned to row at King’s School, Canterbury and later was Captain of Boats and stroked the 1st VIII at London University. Upon completing his studies, Porter was recruited to spend his years of mandatory national service at the Royal Air Force Base at Benson, situated on the River Thames in Oxfordshire near Wallingford, between Henley and Oxford. R.A.F. Benson was the home of the Royal Air Force rowing squad.2931 Porter: “I took over as officer in charge of rowing and found a small group of about ten oarsmen, none of whom had come from elite rowing backgrounds but all of whom loved their rowing enough to take the 2928 Davidge, foreword to Porter, Rowing to Win, p. 13 2929 In the photo of the 1953 Thames Cup semi- final at the beginning of this chapter, Porter’s chin had dropped, and many heads were sagging. However, the discipline of the 1954 Coxless- Four on the following page was exemplary. 2930 Hall-Craggs, personal conversation, 2008 2931 “The commanding officer was a rower and facilitated recruiting.” – Chris Dodd, personal correspondence, 2011 initiative to be posted to Benson while they were doing their national service.”2932 With rowing as their “job” for at least two years, Porter and his R.A.F. Benson teammates became Britain’s first modern professional oarsmen and took a serious look at the possibilities their sport afforded them. Porter: “One thing that was obvious to us and to every other oarsman worldwide was the absolute domination of the Olympic eight-oared event by crews from the United States. [They] were all university crews, and they rowed a style that was different from everyone else, with little body swing [compared to English Orthodoxy or Lady Margaret] and very long slide movement. The oarsmen were all very tall but appeared relatively unskillful. However, these crews were extremely fit with strong finishing spurts. “Our little R.A.F. rowing squad at Benson resolved to learn as much as we could about American rowing. We wrote to Harvard Coach Tom Bolles2933 and asked if he could give us any advice. He generously sent us a 16-mm film, and we watched it over and over. “We also contacted two American students at Oxford, one who had rowed for Yale and one who had coxed at the U.S. Naval Academy. They both came and talked to us and even provided coaching occasionally. “It became clear to us that the great difference between the successful United States college crews and all the British crews was not so much the way they rowed as the way they trained. “British rowing traditionally concen- trated on good rowing form. As crews became tired, form deteriorated, so a crew was rested and the coach tried again. Many 2932 Porter, Servant, p. 18 2933 See Chapter 63. 822
