THE SPORT OF ROWING twice-a-day training for the three-mile grind at Syracuse. “June 21 was the big day. The Plebes started the day with a bang by setting a new record in their two-mile test. The Junior Varsity finished their unbeaten season by also taking the biggest one. “It was now up to us. At the starting line there were ten other varsity racing shells strung out across Lake Onondaga.”2317 Stevens: “It was quite a sight. “We took our usual start (44 strokes per minute) and jumped way out in front. We did not know it at the time, but the usual practice for the longer races was to start slowly to conserve energy for the long haul. By the time I got the stroke rate down to 30- 32, our boat was so far ahead of the remaining boats it became a concern, but the crew was well trained for the exertion, and we slipped over the finish line with a huge winning margin. Our time of 15:08 remains as the fastest time [ever] for three miles on that lake.”2318 The New York Times: “In the fiftieth anniversary regatta of the Intercollegiate Rowing Association, held on Onondaga Lake, the Academy’s Varsity slammed to a three-length triumph. Its Junior Varsity won by a similar margin, and its Plebes by a length. “Rusty Callow, dean of American rowing coaches with over a quarter-century of experience at Washington and Penn, completed his second season at Annapolis with a big plum – a sweep of the nation’s biggest intercollegiate regatta. “Only Coach Al Ulbrickson had done it before.2319”2320 2317 Stevens, pp. 6-7 2318 Stevens, correspondence to G. Callow, 1995 2319 In the era before 1914 when a jayvee race was added to the program, Yale had done it in the 1873 RAAC championship, and Cornell had done it at the year-end regatta an astonishing fourteen times, mostly under Charles Courtney. 1952 Olympic Trials The 1952 Olympic Trials were to be held on Lake Quinsigamond in Worcester, Massachusetts two weeks after the IRA. In the first heat, Cornell and California qualified over Yale and Stanford. In the second heat, Navy and Princeton qualified over Harvard, and in the third heat, it was Wisconsin and Washington over Buffalo West Side. The Semi-Finals In the first semi-final the following day, in a thrilling race, only half a length separated Princeton, Washington and Cornell, with the latter being eliminated. The New York Times: “The last trial of the day among Navy, California and Wisconsin started with little indication of what was to develop. Navy went out in front at a low beat of 29 to 30, with the [Badgers] and California, evidently bent upon settling for a second-place finish that would mean qualifying for the final. “Against a strong head wind, the midshipmen rowed steadily. Nearing the finish, their boat went up to 35, but California, whose eights have gone to three of the last four Olympics, seemed determined on winning second without question. “Cal stroke Bill Loorz continued a sprint, and their shell closed in on Navy. “Foot-by-foot, the Golden Bears gained, and they came on with such a flourish that some at the finish thought they finally had caught the only unbeaten crew of the year.”2321 2320 John Rendel, Win at Syracuse, The New York Times, June 22, 1952 2321 Lincoln A. Werden, Navy and Princeton Eights Pace Semi-Final Rowing Trials at Worcester, The New York Times, July 5, 1952 646
