THE LONG ECLIPSE OF AMERICAN ROWING We had a later camp, he had organizational help, and there were a lot of people trying out.”5174 Vespoli: “Rosenberg, clever little guy, he knew exactly how to push all the right buttons. And the way he pushed the buttons was by being totally opposite – in a lot of ways outrageously opposite – to the traditional training method. He focused on trying to teach us to row, and the fact is he developed a uniformity of the style. But he also was the beneficiary of two years of National Team- level athletes that were very strong. So he could focus on making us move a boat.”5175 1973 crew, Ken Brown 6’1” 186cm 184lb. 83kg, Rosenberg inherited five members of that of Cornell, Georgetown’s Mike Vespoli 6’5” 196cm 198lb. 90kg , who had been rowing for Vesper for several years, 1972 Olympic Silver Medalist Tim Mickelson 6’3” 191cm 187lb. 85kg from Wisconsin, Hugh Stevenson 6’4” 193cm 201lb. 91kg , a Penn grad rowing for Vesper, and Al Shealy 6’3” 191cm 198lb. 90kg , still a Harvard undergraduate. To this core he added 6’4” 193cm 205lb. 93kg John Everett from MIT, 6’5” 196cm 205lb. 93kg Mark Norelius from the University of Washington and Shealy’s undergraduate Harvard teammates, 6’4” 193cm 205lb. 93kg Dick Cashin and coxswain Dave Weinberg. Competition at the camp was very intense. According to Rowing News, Tiff Wood, 6’1” 188cm 185lb. 84kg, one of Shealy’s Harvard Rude and Smooth teammates,5176 “felt he had something to 5174 Mickelson, op. cit. 5175 Qtd. by Jeff Moag, The Rowing News Q&A: Mike Vespoli, Rowing News, December 2009, p. 48 5176 See Chapter 104. prove. He excelled at seat racing and was determined to show that he was exceptional. “‘He stood out wailing away on the oar,’ recalls Rosenberg, ‘but he was too rough to be much good in the eight.’ “Wood was bitterly disappointed. ‘It was a beauty contest to get in that boat,’ Wood recalls. ‘Getting selected on style was different from Harry Parker’s seat racing at Harvard.’”5177 Vespoli: “There was none of this so- called objectivity of coaching through seat racing, and he didn’t focus so much on the best ergs, although he ended up getting most of them in the boat anyway.”5178 In fact, Rosenberg prided himself for having over the years trained his eye to evaluate boat movers to the point that he could eschew quantitative measures. When Hugh Stevenson declared that he would not submit to be tested on the ergometer, a relatively new innovation in 1974, because it dehumanized a person, Allen gave him a pass and, quite rightly in retrospect, selected him on sight alone. But by the same token, Wood was rejected on sight. Stevenson: “To set the record straight, I believe research is critical – I want to be clear about that – but not when it comes into a system which is grounded in the ‘art’ of rowing. Erging is not and never will be racing boats. “What was to be next? Score a high erg score, and claim your seat?5179 “Fritz Hagerman was in charge of physiological testing for the U.S. National Team during the 1970s. I submitted to his testing at the ‘73 Gladstone camp in 5177 Xavier Macia, Enter the Hammer, Rowing News, September, 2004, p. 46 5178 Qtd. by Moag, op. cit. 5179 Actually, yes. This is not uncommon among coaches even today. For instance, see Brad Alan Lewis with Eric Hamilton, A Fine Balance, The story of a team on the edge of making history, www.bradalanlewis.com, 1999 1429
