THE LONG ECLIPSE OF AMERICAN ROWING believe that it is different in any way from what I taught.”5218 The issue may not be what Allen actually believed or taught, but what message others gleaned from his words. As Fairbairn pointed out a century ago, if you describe a series of steps in sequence, that is precisely what you will get. Acceleration or Not? Emory Clark: “[In 1964,] certainly, we accelerated through the stroke.”5219 Rosenberg: “Emory seems to be confused. I teach ‘steady draw with arms only,’ and that is not an acceleration. It is the smooth transition of what has gone before to the point of ‘sending’ the boat at the finish of the stroke.”5220 “I don’t like the concept of accelerating the finish. To me, acceleration and speed are pretty much the same. I think if you can keep a firm and steady draw of the handle into the body, you’re far better off.”5221 Here again lies the by-now common but crucial language disconnect. We have the very same sentiments and the very same natural confusions of the physics of the stroke that we run into with such other rowing luminaries as Ted Nash and Melch Bürgin.5222 “Acceleration” and “speed” are most definitely not the same. Rosenberg’s “firm and steady draw” throughout the stroke will yield steadily increasing speed, in other words boat acceleration throughout the stroke. Rosenberg: “Once the boat is at full speed [through the use of legs and back], the 5218 Rosenberg, personal correspondence, 2007 5219 Clark, personal correspondence, 2006 5220 Rosenberg, op. cit. 5221 Rosenberg, USRA Clinic, Chula Vista, CA, Sept 11-2, 2004 5222 See Chapter 168. 5223 Rosenberg, op. cit. 5224 See Chapter 168. trick is to keep it at top speed until the finish. There are many factors which will lead to deceleration, but these are controlled by the arms.” This is a description of what we might call defensive rowing, but neither the 1964 nor the 1974 crew rowed defensively to the finish. They did everything they could to keep the boat accelerating, in Allen’s own words, “kicking the bejazzis out of the finish!”5223 They rowed aggressively and offensively all the way to the release. They used their legs not just early in the pullthrough but all the way until just before the release. Even more crucially, they used their backs in conjunction with their arms all the way to the moment of the release. Allen Rosenberg disputes this interpretation, but the photographic evidence is incontro- vertible. The issue of acceleration to the finish is a difficult one for coaches and rowers alike and is easily subject to misunderstanding. Like Allen, Ted Nash is also uncomfortable with the issue. Quite rightly, he does not want his oarsmen to imagine themselves increasing their effort levels toward the finish, as that would indeed inappropriately shortchange the front-half of the pullthrough.5224 Even though Rosenberg disagrees, the 1964 Vesper and Lake Washington crews had a great deal in common. For both, the intent and the result were a strong, steady Schubschlag pullthrough, not a Kernschlag explosion at the catch. Contrary to Allen’s intent and recollection, acceleration instead of “smooth transition” continued to the release of the oar in both crews. 1439
