THE SPORT OF ROWING their timing was off the rest of the way. We have a long way to go.’ Rathschmidt: “Our boat looked good at 24 to 28 strokes a minute, but at racing speed they did not have it. “We seemed to be doing very well, but when we tried going at a 32 beat, the boys got in all sorts of trouble. “I’ve made two changes so far, to try to get more speed. For the next week we will simply have to experiment to find which boys can move the boat best.”2535 Cooke: “After our race against BU, Rathschmidt was still not satisfied with the way the Varsity boat was rowing. There was a noticeable ‘break’ in the swing between the 3- and 4-seats. “On the following Monday and Tuesday, Jim tried nearly every starboard oar in that 3-seat to try to overcome the problem. None of the changes seemed to satisfy him. “Late Wednesday afternoon, after many half-mile and one-mile pieces with different 3-men, the eights ended up in front of the boathouse. It was past dusk and getting dark fast. The bay doors were open and inviting, with light pouring out and illuminating the dock. “The boats were turning for the light when Jim called out to pull the Varsity and the third boats together. “There were soft moans throughout the fleet. “He called out for ‘John’ to move into the 3-seat in the Varsity. “When no one moved, Jim yelled again for John Cooke to move into 3. “Oh . . . “I took my ‘highchair’ and my oar and crawled across into the Varsity boat. Once I was settled, we went back upstream about 1½ miles. Everyone was very tired, but I 2535 Rathschmidt, qtd. in New Haven Evening Register, April 15, 1956 pulled as hard as I could. Bill Becklean yelled at me a couple of times that we were supposed to be paddling! “It sure felt good to me, but then wasn’t that the way a Varsity boat was supposed to feel? “We had a couple of half-mile pieces going home, and again I thought it felt great. “The next day, Jim boated the crews with the comment that it had been late yesterday, that John had not had much of a chance, and that we would start out again with the same boatings. “Since we were all fresh, and I was pumped-up, that was all the chance I needed. “I never gave up that seat again. “I found out later that on the previous evening, Jerry Romano, our extra- ordinary boatman and Jim’s launch driver, in talking to Jim about his disappointment at not finding the right combination, had told Jim that he had tried every starboard oar in that 3-seat . . . except John Cooke. “Jim’s reply was along the lines that John was still rough and had not yet developed enough oarsmanship to be of any help to the Varsity. “Jerry insisted it was mostly a question of ‘fairness,’ and that John would probably feel that he hadn’t gotten a chance. “Jerry must have felt sympathetic to another ‘Naugatuck Valley2536 guy’ like himself, and wanted to see him get that chance. “Jerry only told me the story years later, but it has a ring of truth, and Jerry often repeated it.”2537 2536 Both Cooke and Romano grew up in Ansonia, Connecticut. The Naugatuck River Valley was the industrial heart of 19th Century Connecticut. The river flows into the Housatonic River between Ansonia and Derby, the site of the Yale Boathouse. 2537 Cooke, op. cit. 704
