THE LESSONS OF 200 YEARS developed by their brilliant and skillful successors. “Amiable presumption of youth and innocence! The fact is, of course, that the main principles of good rowing are the same now as they have always been.”8335 Amen! AMEN! Tom Terhaar, 2004: “I tend to think that rowing technique just goes in circles. One of my friends gave me a book about coaching and technique, and it was written in 1862 in England, and the same thing with Fairbairn. I’ll pick that up once in a while. “I’ve seen a tape of the 1974 U.S. Eight in Lucerne, and to me it doesn’t seem too different from what we’re doing today. “It seems that the basics really haven’t changed at all.”8336 There indeed is remarkable common- ality across rowing history. Generations apart, amidst common experience, similar patterns have emerged and similar conclusions have been reached. If one looks carefully, the successful individuals and crews throughout history turn out to have had a great deal in common. In fact, there have been only three great issues that have truly divided coaches since the 18th Century: 1. Ferryman’s Finish or Not 2. Active or Passive Arms at the Catch 3. Force Application – Schubschlag or Kernschlag By comparison, everything else is minor, even trivial, but these three issues have made up with intensity for their paucity in numbers. Those on both sides of each of these three issues have never been able even to imagine how any sane individual could possibly disagree with them. But this is a human failing, not just a rowing phenomenon. 8335 Lehmann, Isthmian, pp. 16-7 8336 Terhaar, personal conversation, 2004 The New York Times: “Human reasoning is ‘beset with logical problems that include overdependence on authority, overemphasis on coincidence, distortion of the evidence, circular reasoning, use of anecdotes, ignorance of science and failures of logic.’”8337 This quote perfectly fits the rowing world of yesterday, today and perhaps tomorrow as well. History Gives Perspective Is there one right way to row? People have been asking this question since their first catch. In 1866, Edwin Brickwood, author of The Arts of Rowing and Training wrote, “Some time ago, an impression prevailed amongst the general public, and also amongst portions of the rowing community, that there were several kinds of perfect rowing – for instance, the Oxford style, the Cambridge style, and the London style, and yet all widely different. “All these theories are exploded now, and very justly so. There should be but one text for all, and upon one model alone every oarsman ought to be formed.”8338 In 1908, R.C. Lehmann wrote: “There must have been even in the early days of boat-racing a distinctive style which was considered the best for the purpose of ensuring victory.”8339 In 1925, Gilbert C. Bourne wrote, “There can hardly be a doubt that, in such an art as that of oarsmanship, there must be some one method of propulsion which is the best, both for obtaining speed and for 8337 Cornelia Dean, Faith, Reason, God and Other Imponderables, The New York Times, July 25, 2006, p. D4, quoting Lewis Wolper, Six Impossible Things Before Breakfast: The Evolutionary Origins of Belief. 8338 Brickwood, p. 19 8339 Lehmann, p. 25 2347
