THE SPORT OF ROWING out when you’re in a race, but it’s really tough to do that as a matter of course in a practice, and I can remember many days coming back just from a normal practice and being so tired I could hardly get out of the boat.”2311 Frank Shakespeare recalls: “The Navy Varsity from 1952 through 1954 became collectively known as ‘the Great Eight,’ but we like to say it was not the Great Eight but the Great Eighteen! “The number two boat was what made the number one boat go so fast, because unless you were constantly doing your best and trying your hardest, you knew there was another guy ready to take your place. “For instance, just before the 1952 IRA Henry Proctor replaced Ed Worth in the 6- seat. Ed was a great guy, but Henry was just a little bit smoother.”2312 Rusty’s son Gordon Callow recalled: “Replacing Ed Worth was one of the hardest personnel changes Old Man River made in his almost forty years of coaching. However, he simply said, ‘I cannot deny Henry a seat he has earned by becoming the best technical oarsman on the squad in addition to being a true power oarsman.’ “Dad truly loved Eddie Worth, whom he considered an ‘every stroke’ competitor, and when he returned the next year [1953] to compete, his place in Dad’s affection was forever secure.”2313 The 1952 Season The New Year of 1952 began auspiciously for the Navy Crew. On January 5, they turned out to discover the first ice-free winter on the Chesapeake Bay in fifty years. Rusty announced, 2311 Detweiler, qtd. by The Great Eight 2312 Shakespeare, op. cit. 2313 G. Callow, correspondence to Ed Stevens, 1995 ‘Gentlemen, as long as this weather holds, we will row around the island every night.’ This meant five- to six-mile [8-10km] rows at full pressure at 18 to 20 strokes per minute. Gordon Callow: “Willie Fields, the leather-tough 2-man, later summed up those long-haul rows around the island with a classic statement that loses some of its impact in print as opposed to hearing it spoken in Willie’s soft, Southern patois, ‘When we were youngstahs, Rusty took us to the Valley of the Shadow, and we never had to go back A-gain.’”2314 Their first ‘52 race was against 1951 Eastern Sprints Champion Yale at Derby. Navy won by four lengths, but Ed Stevens later apologized for it. “I always tried to ensure a win, by a comfortable margin but not an embarrassing one. The early season Yale victory by a large margin was sort of a mistake because we didn’t know our capabilities. We didn’t have to row all out all the time, but we didn’t know that yet.”2315 Shakespeare: “At Princeton on Carnegie Lake, Dutch Schoch believed he had the best crew he had had in years. While we were putting our boats in the water on opposite ends of the dock, he said to his crew, ‘Stay ahead of Navy at all costs. If they get ahead of you, you will never see them again.’ Unfortunately for them, that became our game plan.”2316 Navy did everything necessary to take the lead, and Princeton collapsed. The next victim was 1951 IRA Champion Wisconsin at home on the Severn. Stevens: In the Adams Cup on the Charles, “we had to face unbeaten Penn and undefeated Harvard, who had won all nine races with Navy since 1938. On a cold and 2314 G. Callow, pp. 1-2 2315 Stevens, correspondence to G. Callow, 1995 2316 Shakespeare, op. cit. 644
