THE AGE OF ENLIGHTENMENT taught under the supervision of Thor Nilsen in Italy. U.S. Women In the fall of 1977, Kris took over the Princeton University Women’s Crew and continued coaching Classical Technique despite being asked to coach the Modern Orthodox Technique, which under the influence of Allen Rosenberg, was nearly universal in both men’s and women’s American collegiate rowing of the era. Korzeniowski: “These women are not going to dictate to me how to row, what technique they want. I’m not going to compromise my coaching principles.”5773 Between 1978 and 1981 he also coached the U.S. Women’s National Team. In 1981 in Oberschleiß- heim, his U.S. Camp Eight came in second. When it came to the technique he taught the U.S. Team, Kris did not ask his athletes to change completely out of their comfort zones. His 1981 National Team rowed what appeared to be the Modern Orthodox Technique familiar to most U.S. athletes, with early emphasis on legs, generous 60° body swing and late break of the arms: 0°, +30° to -30°, 0-8, 0- 10, 0-10. Kris’s 1981 assistant, Bob Ernst: “What However, by subtly altering the rowing technique that Americans of the post- Rosenberg era were used to, by changing it from Kernschlag to Schubschlag, Kris completely revolutionized it. Curtis Jordan, Princeton women’s coach for seven years and men’s coach for nineteen: “Bob is right. When I first came [to Princeton] Kris was the women’s coach, and he rowed so radically different than anybody else. It had this enormous acceleration into the bow, long layback and this big swooping motion, and nobody rowed that way.”5775 In fact, nobody had rowed that way in the United States for nearly twenty years, not since before the Ratzeburg Revolution and the Rosenberg Counterrevolution. British Pathé Newsreel, 2098-12 1946 Cornell Varsity 5 Wilbur Gundlach 1984 Olympic Committee 1984 USA Olympic Eight 7 Charles Clapp Kris Korzeniowski: “Holy cow. That’s what we coach!” Schubschlag you try to do is you look at the athletes you have access to, the athletes who are rowing in the boat, figure what their strong points are and how they can make the boat go fastest.”5774 5773 Qtd. by Matlack, op. cit. 5774 Ernst, ABC Television Olympic coverage. However, the Eastern Bloc-derived force application that Korzeniowski taught was virtually identical to that of much of American collegiate rowing during the Conibear Era, a fact that had been forgotten by most and came as a surprise to Kris himself. Kris: “Some pictures of old boats are very much like we are right now. In Cornell 5775 Jordan, personal conversation, 2006 1595
