THE AGE OF ENLIGHTENMENT The Guardian: “Mahon was a journeyman coach par excellence, showing up for a weekend with Cambridge and Robin Williams, then a few days at Hammersmith with Martin McElroy and his Olympic oarsmen, interspersed with regular bouts at Radley College with another Cambridge colleague, Donald Legget. “He coached Britain’s scullers from 1997 to 1999, running a small group from the Lensbury Club, Teddington, which included Greg Searle.”6703 Greg Searle The Searle brothers had already won the 1992 Olympic Coxed-Pairs title in inimitable fashion. Martin Cross was watching: “At first, the boats were just distant dots, but as they passed the 1,000 metres mark I could just begin to make out the crews. Five seconds ahead and creaming the rest of the field were the imperious Abbagnale brothers.6704 The Italians were flying toward their third Olympic Gold Medal with what seemed like an ocean of clear blue water between them and the rest of the field. That included Jon Searle, rowing with his younger brother, Greg. The split times showed they were 4.8 seconds behind at the halfway point. “Then I remembered the words of the Searles’ cox, Garry Herbert. When we had spoken about his race the previous evening, he’d said, ‘Mart, I know we can give them five seconds at the 1,000 metres and still beat them.’ “With 500 left, though, what Garry had promised hadn’t happened. Even though they were now challenging for Silver, I was sure they’d left it far too late. With just 100 metres to go, the Abbagnales must have 6703 The Guardian, op. cit. 6704 See Chapter 145. begun to smell the scent of the bouquets that were awarded to the champions. “Then it happens. With centimetres left, the killer touch. The Searles’ last few desperate strokes snatched the Gold Medal away.”6705 “The year after Barcelona they again won. It was only FISA’s decision to abolish their event that stopped them adding another Gold in the Atlanta Games.”6706 Turning to a coxless-four for their return to Olympic competition, in 1996 the Searle brothers came in third to the Oarsome Foursome6707 and a very fast French crew. Cross: “To both Searles, the Bronze ‘seemed like nothing.’”6708 After Atlanta, Greg turned to the single and to Harry Mahon. Cross: “Greg Searle got a chance to sample the Mahon magic when Harry began to coach him in 1997. That year, Searle became the first British single sculler for almost forty years to medal at a World Championships.6709 “I went out with him in the launch to hear him coaching Greg Searle. He never stopped talking. I listened enthralled to his dialogue. For me, it was like discovering Mozart for the first time. Not only could I see the effect that his coaching was having on Greg, it was also the way I was starting to look at the sport at that time in my life.”6710 As the video frames on the following page indicate, Searle shared a number of technical features with Xeno Müller: hybrid- concurrent legs and back, moderate body swing with shoulders and arms engaged 6705 Cross, pp. 12-3 6706 Ibid, p. 184 6707 See Chapter 131. 6708 Cross, p. 184 6709 Ibid, p. 50 6710 Ibid, pp. 47-8 1853
