THE WINDS OF CHANGE “In trying to beat all others for a second Olympic try, the 1952 winners are well aware of the difficulties ahead. Soft life in wardrooms, officers’ clubs and pilots’ seats had larded them lightly with unnecessary ballast, before orders brought them back to Annapolis. “Of the eighteen officer oarsmen – a second-string boatload also got orders to crew duty – nine had married, and five were already fathers. The old days of monastic concentration on the job at hand were gone for good. Hands had gone soft. Even after bathing them in alcohol and alum, some of the crewmen could not be sure their palms would stand the wear. “For Coach Rusty Callow, the main problem of a comeback for his aging world- beaters was a bit more esoteric: how to keep ever-present wives from heckling their husbands. But Rusty’s fears were groundless. The women have proved willing to let their men eat at training table instead of at home. “When they pulled away from the stake boats on the Severn for their first competitive trial last week, for a few breathtaking moments the Admirals seemed to have found their old skill. Swinging into a high, 45-beat stroke, they slid into an early lead. “But stamina was lacking. Over the long pull, their wind was not equal to the job. They gasped through their finishing sprint, unable to stay with Princeton’s well- conditioned undergraduates. “They finished second by three lengths, but well ahead of Navy’s own Varsity. “Coach Callow was far from disappointed. Said he, ‘The Admirals were terrific. They did better than I expected. When they lose that excess weight – well, we can hope, can’t we?’”2357 That hope will play itself out in Chapter 68. Long-Term Impact Three individuals who later had a role in the continuing historical evolution of rowing technique had occasion to observe, participate and collaborate with Rusty Callow in the development of the 1952 Olympic Champion crew. The first was Jim Manning, the Navy boatmen during Rusty’s first year. “He had been an amateur sculler in Boston in 1910, 1911. He and his brothers had won so many races that they eventually declared them professionals because they also repaired boats in the Boston/Cambridge area.”2358 Dick Kendall, Penn ‘51: “Jim had been the longtime Freshman Coach at Navy under Buck Walsh [a protégé of Richard Glendon2359]. He taught the Walsh style of slow hands at the release. He referred to the Pocock style [of fast hands away] as the ‘Jack-in-the-Box stroke,’ and Rusty [a Pocock follower] wanted no part of Manning’s style. “Jack Kelly, Sr. lured him away to coach at Vesper Boat Club in Philadelphia after the 1951 Navy season.”2360 Ed Stevens recalls Manning as a quiet man: “Jim Manning was the boatman for the Naval Academy. He did not do any coaching, and I was unaware that he had ever been a coach. Rusty may have kept him at the Academy because he needed a 2357 Sport: Four Years From Olympus, Time Magazine, April 23, 1956 2358 Rosenberg, USRA Clinic, Chula Vista, CA, Sept 11-2, 2004 2359 See Chapter 51. 2360 Kendall, personal correspondence, 2008 655
