INTERNATIONAL ROWING TURNS PROFESSIONAL As the water got rougher, the margin grew back to a length at the 1,500, and then the Brits started pouring it on. As the Pimenovs struggled to reach the line, the Brits kept coming. They fell short by a few inches, perhaps 10cm.3119 The Moscow Style Today Has the Moscow Style survived into the 21st Century? Ted Nash: “The fall of the Iron Curtain may have slowed it down a little bit, but the Soviet Style is still around! “The Russian Federation men’s quad that won in 2004 in Athens rowed the Moscow Style, and it hadn’t changed one iota since the ‘50s!3120 “Ukrainians of today also row the old Soviet Style, give or take a little bit of the arm snap, and here comes Estonian single sculler Jueri Jaanson, who couldn’t win a thing in the late ‘90s. “Where did Jueri go? He went to Russia, but it happened to be via Augusta, Georgia, USA. Igor Grinko The coach that Jaanson came to in Georgia was former Soviet National Coach Igor Grinko. Born in Vilnus, Lithuania, he received his Diploma of Higher Education in Physical Culture and Sport from the National Academy of Sport in Kiev, Ukraine. Ochkalenko: “Grinko rowed and coached in Ukraine. He was USSR Doubles Champion representing Dynamo Kiev.”3121 3119 For British coach Mike Spracklen’s recounting of the race, see Chapter 130. 3120 This is an exaggeration. Over forty years, force application had been transformed from Kernschlag to Schubschlag. 3121 Ochkalenko, personal correspondence, 2011 Peter Spurrier Igor Grinko He coached the Dynamo squad from 1976 to 1980 and was Soviet National Sculling Coach from 1980 to 1990, during which time he produced eight World Champion, seven World Silver and two World Bronze Medal boats. He became an Honored Trainer of USSR in 1984. Nash: “Jaanson came to the United States not to learn our technique but to train under Igor, a former Soviet coach who teaches the same Soviet Style, with maybe a little modification of the body tilt. “Jaanson regrouped, came back onto form and almost won in Athens. On the beach after the Olympic final, the Norwegian winner, Olav Tufte, said in front of me, in front of Igor and directly to Jaanson: “‘Jueri, if you had had one more attack, I couldn’t have answered it.’ “Jaanson got an Olympic Silver Medal after losing everything to everybody, even losing to U.S. lightweights in Augusta when he first arrived!”3122 3122 Nash, op. cit., 2004 871
