THE LESSONS OF 200 YEARS call swing, which is that movement of the boat precisely together. That’s what enables a boat to rise above the sum of its parts.”8481 Al Shealy, stroke of the 1974 U.S. World Champion Eight: “I feel that my strongest asset is maintaining length, rhythm and drive for the duration. My pulling is secondary in importance to my ability to create swing.”8482 David Halberstam, author of The Amateurs, 1985: “When most oarsmen talked about their perfect moments in a boat, they referred not so much to winning a race, as to the feel of the boat, all eight oars in the water together, the synchronization almost perfect. In moments like these, the boat seemed to lift right out of the water. Oarsmen called that the moment of swing.”8483 Volker Nolte, 2005: “When rowers describe what it feels to move fast in a boat, they often say that the boat is flying. This expression depicts not only high speed but also a sensation of effortlessness.”8484 All too often, a boat or a rower or a combination of rowers does not swing. The result can be disaster, but the exact source of the problem is difficult to identify. Gilbert C. Bourne, 1925: “There is a gentleman whom I am wont to refer to as a ‘stopper.’ He has long been a puzzle to me. As a rule he is a powerfully built man and rows in apparently correct form. His work is not at fault, for his effort at every stroke is apparent, and he sends down a great swirl of water from his blade. His ‘beginning’ is to the eye at least as good as that of his comrades. His length of swing is irreproachable, and his pluck and endurance beyond all cavil. 8481 Murphy, Rowing – A Symphony of Motion 8482 Shealy, p. 37 8483 Halberstam, p. 40 8484 Nolte et al, p. 177 “It is hard to find fault with him, yet a little experience tells one that for the purpose of winning races he is better out of the boat than in it.”8485 Metaphysics Most coaches throughout history have concluded that the metaphysical side of rowing technique will always be a mystery. Seminal Cornell Coach Charles Courtney: “After all, it is only a half- discovered science, this art of eight-oared shell rowing . . . One realized . . . there is no study in the realm of college athletics so interesting, and very few so compli- cated.”8486 Ed Leader, coach of the 1924 Yale Olympic Champion Eight: “Rowing will always remain an art rather than a science, no matter how scientifically certain parts may be studied, even mastered.”8487 Contemporary Seattle Coach Paul Smith: “Many rowers describe a ‘magic row’ where the perceived effort is less while the boat is moving very fast. We must wonder, is the effort genuinely less or is there something else at work, since of course it takes hard work to move a boat quickly, and our brains are hard pressed to be convinced of anything else.”8488 Long time Northeastern University Coach Buzz Congram: “So much in rowing is people feeling the boat. Every four or five years Northeastern would have a really exceptional crew, and each one of those years we’d have an exceptional stroke-man. I think when there was a rhythm established, and people started following the boat, they started rowing with the rhythm of the boat, and that makes a huge difference. 8485 Bourne, Textbook, p. 5 8486 Courtney, qtd. by Kelley, p. 218 8487 Ed Leader, qtd. by Mendenhall, Ch. IX, p. 1 8488 Smith, personal correspondence, 2008 2385
