THE SPORT OF ROWING Wailes: “[On the first stroke,] Morey’s oar flipped completely around in his hand, and he missed one stroke. I was thinking how lucky we were to recover from that when I caught a partial crab at the release, ducked out of the way of the oar so I wouldn’t be thrown out of the boat, and ended going up for the next catch with my oar behind my back.2581 Cooke: “On the second stroke of the racing start, Rusty Wailes caught an over- the-head crab, losing the grip on his oar. “I remember coming up to the catch for the third stroke and wondering what Rusty’s oar was doing trailing alongside the boat. “Behind our starboard stern, I in the referee’s glimpsed Tippy Goes launch staring right at our boat, clearly aware of the crab, and then turning away to look at the other crews.”2582 Wailes: “On the following stroke I ducked under my oar and came out on the recover only missing one stroke. “After all this, a quick glance revealed we were only a deck behind all the other crews. My reaction was that if we could screw up this badly and still be only a deck back – we’ve got this thing.”2583 Cooke: “Essy, right behind Rusty, remembers being shocked to see Rusty’s face looking up at him as he finished his own third stroke. “Rusty reached out, pivoted the oar, swung the handle back inboard, carefully avoiding Essy, and hit the fourth stroke right on time. “Must have been a great disappointment to Tippy.”2584 Stan Pocock: “Crabs caught in races are often a disaster, but can be a blessing in disguise if they’re caught early and a quick 2581 Wailes, p. 5 2582 Cooke, op. cit. 2583 Wailes, p. 5 2584 Cooke, op. cit. recovery is made. The resulting infusion of adrenaline can work wonders on a crew.”2585 Esselstyn: “When Rusty crabbed, the boat sort of shuddered, and everybody seemed to say, ‘What the hell!’ “I can remember it vividly. We began to really catch solid water, and we just knew we could drive as hard as we could, and the boat would remain steady. “Then Becklean took over. They probably had four men on us, but he told us they only had two.”2586 Becklean: “We were not a fast-starting crew, so we thought we’d be giving Cornell half a length or so at the start and then mow ‘em down later. “Then we just had a horrible start. Everything went wrong, but after twenty strokes I looked over, and we were even with Cornell. As far as I was concerned, it was all over!”2587 The New York Times: “The Admirals went ahead. They were closely followed by Cornell, which had recently won the Intercollegiate Rowing Association crown for the second straight time. “Yale and Cornell lagged while the Admirals and Washington alternated in the lead. The Admirals set the pace for 700 meters. Then the Coast sweepswingers moved into the lead. “Yale was third and apparently unperturbed about the leadership.”2588 Mendenhall: “At about 1,200 meters, Yale, who had sat back at 29-30, made its bid, went by the Admirals into second place, and then at 1,400 blew the race open.”2589 The New York Times: “They went to a 32-beat, and within 30 strokes they were on 2585 S. Pocock, p. 105 2586 Esselstyn, personal correspondence, 2005 2587 Becklean, op. cit. 2588 Strauss, op. cit. 2589 Mendenhall, Oar, p. 9 714
