THE SPORT OF ROWING able to get them to work on the same technical points.”6139 Spracklen eventually put together a coxed-four consisting of stroke Steve Redgrave, 3 Andy Holmes, 2 Richard Budgett, bow Martin Cross and coxswain Adrian Ellison. Redgrave: “Richard Burnell, of our last rowing Gold Medallists at the 1948 London Olympic Games in the doubles, described us in The Sunday Times [of London] as a ‘job lot’ and ‘the unlikely lads.’”6140 Bow-seat Martin Cross: “An odd lot we were, too. There was Andy Holmes, a bit of a loner but hard, although nobody wanted to row with him.”6141 Redgrave: “Andy was very quiet and distant. He wanted to do things his own way, and some people didn’t like that. But he and I never had problems, we got on really well together, we were both really committed to rowing.”6142 Cross: “The 6ft 7ins Richard Budgett cut a ludicrous figure in the boat. The first time he saw him race, [the coach of the 1984 British Eight] laughed at his technique. “Redgrave, in the midst of his odyssey to win the single sculls in Seoul, made up the group. We all knew he didn’t want to [sweep] row. While he raced us in his single, which was slightly slower than our pairs, we regarded him as cannon fodder.”6143 In fact, this was a quality group. Budgett and coxswain Ellison had been in the Bronze Medal Coxed-Pair in 1981. That same year, Holmes had been in the 6139 Spracklen, op. cit. 6140 Redgrave, op. cit., p. 77 6141 Cross, p. 101 6142 Sir Steve Redgrave pays tribute to Olympic partner Andy Holmes, who has died aged 51, The Telegraph, www.telegraph.co.uk, Oct. 25, 2010 6143 Cross, p. 101 FISA 1984 Video Great Britain Men’s Coxed-Four 1984 Olympic Champion, Lake Casitas Stroke Steve Redgrave 6’4” 193cm 227lb. 103kg, 3 Andy Holmes 6’4” 192cm 209lb. 95kg, 2 Richard Budgett 6’7” 200cm 220lb. 100kg, Bow Martin Cross 6’2” 187cm 196lb. 89kg, Coxswain Adrian Ellison Redgrave: +5°, +25° to -20°, 0-9, 0-9, 0-10 Classical Technique Schubschlag Strong back swing, ferryman’s finish. coxed-four which had led the Worlds for 1,000 meters and then faded to fifth. Cross, the senior member of the crew, had already 1716
