THE LONG ECLIPSE OF AMERICAN ROWING In the genealogical tree of rowing technique, Modern Orthodoxy is an extension of the branch that began with the Thames Waterman’s Stroke. Rosenberg’s mentor, Jim Manning, came from the same professional class that included George Pocock. However, the closest spiritual cousin to Modern Orthodoxy is actually English Orthodoxy. They are not linked by direct influence. In fact, the two sides may be deeply offended by my assertion of their confluence of attitude. But they both approach rowing as a series of motions or steps which must be executed in sequence in order to perform a stroke. Today, the tree of rowing technique has only two active branches, Classical and Modern Orthodox. The rest of this book is the story of the competition between them, both on the water and off. What is Modern Orthodoxy? Allen Rosenberg has stated many times, in articles and clinics, that the fundamental tenet of the Rosenberg Style is to concentrate muscular effort in the portion of the rowing stroke where he believes it will do the most good, namely at the beginning of the pullthrough. This is Kernschlag mentality, “solid stroke with a hard beginning” as defined by GDR researchers. Kernschlag is not new. Even in that era, besides local Philadelphia crews and Jim Manning’s Vesper crews during the 1950s, the Soviet crews that Rosenberg first saw in 1958 at the European Championships in Poznan were also emphasizing effort at the entry. Rosenberg continues to teach his crews to initiate their pullthroughs with the strongest and quickest muscle group, namely the legs, but this also was not revolutionary. During the early part of the 20th Century, George Pocock had already written that the rower must “drive the legs [at the entry], as this is the maximum power drive,”5082 and it is ultimately to Pocock’s writings that the origins of Modern Orthodoxy can be traced. The connection to Pocock should come as no surprise. As has already been discussed, George Pocock had been a friend to the Ten Eycks at Syracuse and a mentor to three generations of Conibear disciples. Rosenberg’s coach, Jim Manning, had known Ned Ten Eyck and had been boatman at Annapolis under one of the Conibearites, Rusty Callow, so he must have been well acquainted with Pocock shells and George Pocock the man, as well as his philosophy of rowing and sculling. In Rosenberg’s own words: “With the feet planted, the sequence of leg drive, back swing and arm draw unfolds using the strongest, next strongest and least strong muscle groups . . . in that overlapping order.”5083 “As the legs drive against the stretcher, the upper body, shoulders and back are fixed – that is, they don’t consciously move into the bow in a bowside arc.”5084 These words are the literal description of the motions of the George Pocock’s Ernest Barry Stroke5085 and are reminiscent of the newsreel frames of Stork Sanford’s 1957 Cornell crew at Henley in Chapter 70. Innumerable times Allen has clearly and succinctly described his sequential approach to rowing, but ironically, frame-by-frame analysis of the 1964 Eight and later the 1974 Eight reveals a nearly concurrent pullthrough. This fact is not widely known – not then, not now. 5082 www.pocockrowing.org, p. 2 5083 Rosenberg, ROW Magazine, Premier Issue, p. 42 5084 Rosenberg, personal correspondence, 1989 5085 See Chapter 47. 1405