THE WINDS OF CHANGE the perspective of the Kernschlag technique he later changed to.) Tony Johnson also did his collegiate rowing at Syracuse under Loren Schoel, and his recollections agree with those of Sanford. “Schoel was one of many Washington oarsmen who had been very successful as rowers at Washington, and they had some use of movies, but they all just heard things, not a lot of knowledge, heard things, and they adapted from that and picked out what their emphasis would be. “As a group they all, for instance, dealt with getting the hands away faster, slowing down [the recovery], and [the pullthrough] was an acceleration. “Schoel’s approach was very simple. No technical coaching. We didn’t talk about that much. Pulling was pulling for Loren Schoel.”2761 Apparently Schoel didn’t much care about labels. He cared about rowing. Yale coach Steve Gladstone is perhaps the most philosophical of today’s generation of American coaches. “You can actually go through an entire lifetime of coaching and be reasonably successful without really paying much attention to what you’re doing as far as technique is concerned. “The Conibear Stroke, whatever that was, was probably coach-by-coach, year-by- year. Nothing can remain constant because interpretation is always going on, and each crew and each stroke-man adds his own individual flavor. “I haven’t had one single crew that’s ever rowed exactly the same. There’s a certain pattern, but the impulses are going to vary. “I would venture to say that many of the old timers, the guys that coached our generation, Peter, didn’t pay much attention to technique. They imitated something. They saw something. I think it was like 2761 Johnson, personal conversation, 2004 San Francisco Examiner, Thomas E. Weil Collection Ky Ebright in 1932 passing on a story, whispering it in the next guy’s ear, and by the time it gets around the room, it’s an entirely different story. “But they all claimed to be teaching the same thing, and they’d say, ‘This is the Conibear Stroke,’ and they’d say it in good faith. “It’s not because I’m here at Cal [in 2004], but I believe there’s never been a more successful guy of that generation than Ky Ebright. I mean three Olympic Gold Medal Eights and six IRA championships?” “The three of his generation who matched him at Poughkeepsie were Callow, Ulbrickson and Sanford, and Ulbrickson also had four IRA sweeps. “Harvard did not participate in that league, so you can’t fault Bolles [or Harry Parker today] for not winning the IRA. “I would rank them in terms of effectiveness, and this is somewhat intuitive, but I think the top four were Ebright, Ulbrickson, Bolles and Sanford. 761
