THE WINDS OF CHANGE and infections, plus we could not make it go! Why??? “The Russians pulled out of their events and left Henley. This seemed to liberate the communist dock worker unions, and they unloaded our boats. We got our Pocock shell about three days before the event, and it was a beauty to see. “About two days before the regatta, I was rowing 2-seat because of switches trying to make the boat move. Our coxswain brought us to the start area just east of Henley Island. The Henley organizers had already put in white posts for start gates in this area. It was foggy, and our coxswain, like most coxswains, couldn’t see much. He threaded our Pocock shell through the two white posts and my oar was the first to hit. As a result, the oar handle caught me in the gut, and I never even touched the gunwales on my way into the water. “Surprisingly, I could stand and duck the other oars as they went by. I made for the bank, and guess who was there watching the whole scenario. None other than Joe Burk, coach of the University of Pennsylvania. He was there on his bike, probably sneaking a peak at us. “I climbed up on the bank and asked Joe if he would mind if our crews in the final just rowed over to the stands and then raced on in from there. He said the last time he had heard that request was when he was racing for the Diamond Sculls, and the guy took off like a shot! “When the dock strike was settled, the Russians came back, and we met them in the semi-final.”2444 In the 1955 Henley semi-final race between Vancouver and Krasnoe Znamia, according to Canadian Historian Peter King, “the Soviets quickly jumped into a 2444 Smith, op. cit. three-quarter-length lead. At the quarter- mile, the Russians dropped their rate to 36, Vancouver to 33. At the half-mile post, the Russian lead was cut to six feet, and by the three-quarters mark, the Canadians were leading by six feet. “When that position was announced, the vast crowd, expecting an easy Russian win, rose to their feet with a roar. The Vancouver crew rowed on to win by one and a half lengths. “Nelles Stacey [Chairman of the VRC Rowing Committee] later stated that there were three records set that day at Henley: ‘Never had there been such wild cheering by a Henley crowd; never had the staid Henley stewards been seen to throw their caps in the air; and never before, during a race, had all the bars been empty.’ “The Russians surrounded the victorious crew and marveled at the technique of ‘coming off the feather at the last moment.’2445 They called it the ‘Read Stroke’ and wondered, as do all losing crews, whether this was the secret of the Canadians’ success.”2446 The Frank Read Stroke The UBC/VRC crew rowed the Pocock Stroke with a sculler’s catch. Frank Read’s mentor and close friend during those years was Stan Pocock in Seattle, Washington. 2447 McKerlich: “After more than 50 years, my coach’s words are still imprinted in my memory: “To aid my concentration during a race, I used to continually think through a check- list of the stroke from my experience of rowing in the 6-seat and hearing Frank 2445 This was the Pocock sculler’s catch. See Chapter 47. 2446 Laumann, p. 133 2447 See Chapters 47 and 83. 679
