THE SPORT OF ROWING Peter Klavora Peter-Michael Kolbe, Federal Republic of Germany In training in 1976, Île Norte Dame +5°, +30° to -10°, 0-9, 0-9, 0-10 Classical Technique Schubschlag, late arm draw, ferryman’s finish. Heavy load, low rating, otherwise Ratzeburg Style. Kolbe had rowed 1:47, 1:51, 1:58, 1:55, but his last 500 might have been perhaps 1:53 had he pressed all the way to the end. That’s not bad! On any other day, against any other opponent, that would have been more than enough. By contrast, Karppinen had done 1:53, 1:53, 1:55, 1:48. Stan Pocock,5818 watching a film of the race: “[Kolbe] tended to panic and tried to raise the stroke up to go faster. The way you go faster is to work harder.”5819 Kolbe’s Technique Peter-Michael Kolbe faithfully rowed the Classical Technique Ratzeburg Style.5820 5818 See Chapter 83 ff. 5819 S. Pocock, conversation with Kent Mitchell, 1990s 5820 See Chapter 92. 5821 S. Pocock, op. cit. 5822 See Chapters 88, 148. Recognizable hallmarks included extreme leg compression at the entry, limited layback, steady, Schubschlag, concurrent pullthroughs and ticking the boat along in order to keep his hull speed consistent throughout the stroke cycle. Stan Pocock, watching film of Kolbe: “He has a nice squeezing finish. He’s not just going through the motions there. He’s still working.”5821 When Kolbe arrived on the scene, John Van Blom5822 was close to retirement as a competitor and was focusing on the coaching of scullers. He carefully observed Kolbe and Karppinen. Van Blom: “Kolbe’s shoes were high in the boat, permitting him to get very tight leg compression but allowing very little body 1622
