THE SPORT OF ROWING “‘Yeah, it’s really windy, and it’s going to be a long race, and I’m really fit!’ “It turned out to be a pretty magical race. We had already had a few races that year that had been very close, her winning,6744 me winning,6745 and the Worlds was the race of a lifetime. “It was one of those races that is so special because the lead changed so many times, and we were never more than a couple of bowballs apart through the race. I just remember being extremely focused, tenacious as all get out, really going into it with the confidence that I was going to have a great race! “She hung on. I hung on. She led. I led. She led. It’s so long ago, but I still remember that feeling of constant pressure, never letting off that intensity for a second in that race. “At 500 meters to go, she pulled ahead of me. She was testing me because the last 500 is where historically I ran out of steam, but I had practiced all season for that final 500, and I had been determined to build into the finish rather than poop out. “When she made that final bid and I answered her and kept going and pulled away, I think that just broke her mentally. There were thirty strokes to go, and I actually knew I was going to win in those last thirty strokes. She knew it, too. “Crossing that finish line, it was a dream come true. It was what I imagined when I first got into a boat, that I would be the World Champion! Of course, shortly after I started to worry about the year ahead, but I think there were at least a few moments when I enjoyed the victory.”6746 Laumann became the first Canadian to become a best-in-the-world single sculler since Jack Guest won the Diamond Sculls in 1930.6747 Technique At 5’11” 180cm 160lb. 73kg, Silken Laumann had always been a powerful athlete with long limbs and good leverage. Back in her 1984 Olympic Double, Silken had moved the boat with a smooth but forceful pullthrough dominated by back swing to -20º of layback. When Spracklen began coaching her, she doubled her layback to -40º, almost as long as the pre-sliding seat English Orthodox Technique of the 1860s6748 or Richard Glendon’s Annapolis crews of the 1920s6749 or even Roy Meldrum’s Lady Margaret crews of the 1950s.6750 Laumann’s long layback was the first appearance of what was later derisively termed the Sprack Back. During Spracklen’s second stint as Canadian Men’s Coach after 2000,6751 his sweep crews would row with layback of -40º and more during training and race warm-ups, even though they raced at only -30º. Laumann raced at -40º. The overall impression of Laumann’s technique was of full commitment from fingers to toes toward accelerating the boat all the way to the release. Laumann: “Every athlete is different, but I would say that my strength was my unbelievable ability to focus. They say you have tunnel vision. My tunnel was tiny! “The technical aspect of rowing was not my strength. I wasn’t one to debate the 6747 She was followed in 1993 by Derek Porter in the Men’s Heavyweight Singles, as will be discussed shortly. In addition, Michelle Darvill has won the 1993 and Fiona Milne the 2003 6744 Hjelmsjoe Oerkelljunga, Sweden, Lucerne 6745 San Diego, Duisburg, Amsterdam 6746 Laumann, op. cit., 2010 World Women’s Lightweight Singles title. 6748 See Chapter 7. 6749 See Chapter 51. 6750 See Chapter 76. 6751 See Chapter 151. 1868
