THE SPORT OF ROWING Phil Gravink, Cornell ‘57 1957 Cornell University Varsity the morning after the Grand (l to r) Spare Jack Meakem, Spare George Bullwinkel, Bow Jack Van Horn, 4 Todd Simpson, 5 Bill Schumacher, 3 Dave Davis, Coxswain Carl Schwarz, 2 Bob Staley, 6 Clayt Chapman, 7 George Ford, Trainer Georges Cointe, Stroke Phil Gravink, Spare Glen Light, Coach Stork Sanford Half a century later, the Yale crew remained frustrated about their Henley experience. John Cooke: “I have seen Cornell’s very impressive, leather- bound ‘scrapbook history’ of their 1957 Crew, in which they frequently claim superiority over the Yale Olympic Champions, but with four highly effective oarsmen graduated from that Yale boat, somewhat lacking in veracity! “There is no doubt in my mind that had Charlie Grimes been sitting in the 5-seat at Henley, Yale would have won, and also would unequivocally have won the Eastern Sprints at Princeton that spring.”2750 Gravink: “Yale had its Olympics in 1956. Well, 1957 was our Olympics. 2750 Cooke, op. cit. “At Henley, we were called things like ‘the fastest crew of all times,’ etc. I remember a headline in The Times [of London] that asked ‘How can we create a European Cornell?’ “After Henley, we went on to the Continent and set the Lucerne course record at the Internationale Rotsee Ruder- regatta.”2751 Gravink continues: “Clayt Chapman, our Captain and 6-man, deserves a lot of the credit for our success. He was the team leader for most of the four years, even before he had the captain’s title. He continues in that role even today. We now call him Commodore Chapman. He went on to coach at Cornell and then to manage the ECAC, where he ran the Eastern Sprints and 2751 Gravink, op. cit. 756
