THE SPORT OF ROWING Tim Maeyens, 6th Belgium Motion: 0-9, 0-9, 0-10 Schubschlag, elegant swing Santiago Fernandez, 4th Argentina Motion: 0-8, 0-10, 0-10 Schubschlag, tight shoulders Olaf Tufte, 1st Norway Motion: 0-9, 0-10, 0-10 Schubschlag, perfection Jueri Jaanson, 2nd Estonia Motion: 0-9, 2-10, 0-10 Schubschlag, overpowering legs Vaclav Chalupa, 5th Czech Republic Motion: 0-8, 2-10, 0-10 Kernschlag, 2-part pullthrough Ivo Yanakiev, 3rd Bulgaria Motion: 0-8, 3-9, 0-10 Kernschlag, 2-part pullthrough FISA 2004 DVD Lanes 1 through 6, 2004 Olympic Singles Final, Schinias 1 NOR 6:49.30, 2 EST 6:51.42, 3 BUL 6:52.80, 4 ARG 6:55.17, 5 CZE 6:59.13, 6 BEL 7:01.74 Myth # 1: The best rowers don’t use their arms from the entry. Reality: All six 2004 men’s finalists used their arms from the entry. Myth #2: The best rowers use their legs before their backs. Reality: All six finalists used their legs and back concurrently, although three used their legs aggressively enough to initially immobilize their backs, and two of these suffered from a severe explosive-catch discontinuity. do something to keep from pulling them out of your shoulder sockets.’”8598 Smith has gotten to the heart of the problem. If you describe only what you want to see (straight arms), you will get one result. If you describe how you want the athlete to get there (active arms held 8598 P. Smith, personal correspondence, 2008 straight by the strength of the legs and back), you will get an entirely different result. Herein lies the fundamental difference between the orthodoxy of any era in rowing history and its antagonist, four volumes, 2,500 pages distilled into a single paragraph. Unfortunately, if an athlete who was told only that the arms should initially 2418
