THE SPORT OF ROWING again coming fourth at the European Championships in Copenhagen. 1 FRG 6:12.82 2 GDR 6:14.95 3 URS 4 NZL 5 SUI 6 CZE 6:14.98 6:19.04 6:20.47 6:28.78 Storey: “The switch to a straight-four came about through a chat that I had with Don Rowlands,5644 who was a selector, on the plane on the way home from Copenhagen, where we’d been in the coxed- fours and we got fourth. “We were considerably better than the fourth that we ended up showing. The main problem was that the boat was not up to the really, really rough conditions the day of the final. Great in the heat, but it was hopeless in tail conditions. “Also, too, the Bulls of Bodensee5645 were there. They were coming into the frame in a big, big way. “Between the smog and the fog and the grog on the way home, I sat down next to Don, and I said, ‘Don, I think the best option for us next year is to go straight-four. I’m not shying away from the challenge here. Our four will be competitive . . . but it’s going to be second or third. I don’t think we’re going to be able to beat those Bulls. If we went back to our 1968 Four, we might be able to. Would you be interested in that?’5646 “Anyway, he listened. “At that time, straight-fours were never raced in New Zealand, so it was a bit of highly innovative thinking out of left field. We didn’t even have any boats here, but somehow or other they bought the idea. 5644 See Chapter 118. 5645 See Chapter 93. 5646 By this time, Cole was headed for the other 1972 Kiwi Four, the coxed-four, and Joyce and coxswain Dickie were in the eight. Dick Tonks in 1972 “We rang the local boatbuilder down in Christchurch. He refused to actually build a straight-four because he didn’t have a shape to go by, so what he did was build a coxed- four with a demountable stern, so you took one stern off for a cox and put on another one for no cox. “Well of course the whole thing was a bit out of kilter, but we actually got the boat going fast.”5647 At stroke in 1972, Rusty added a quiet 21-year-old newcomer, Dick Tonks of Union Boat Club in Wanganui on the North Island. Storey: “Tonks never used to say much, no more than he does now.5648 He used to think a lot, and I think because I was 32 years old, and he was 19, I don’t know if I 5647 Storey, op. cit. 5648 Tonks is now the Head Coach of New Zealand. Tim McLaren 1554
