THE ERA OF POLARIZATION 147. Modern Orthodox versus Classical in Italy De Capua Changes Direction In 2005, the winds of change were blowing in Piediluco, and they were blowing away from Kernschlag back to Schubschlag. Giuseppe de Capua was appointed to replace Giuseppe La Mura as Technical Director of the Italian Rowing Federation. He had also worked with Thor Nilsen at Piediluco during the 1980s, and had been head coach for the senior team, sweep and scull, from 1980 to 1992. De Capua: “I was Thor’s right hand man for ten years.”7718 In accepting the job, “Beppe” announced that he intended to move away from the rowing technique of Luini and Pettinari. His comments are revealing. www.fisa.org: “‘I’m introducing a different rowing technique,’ says de Capua. ‘I put a lot of effort into the economy of movement of the stroke. I want it to be elastic, to have cooperation between the body, the boat and the oars. To do this, it means developing a lot of feeling of your body and feeling the oars as an extension of the hands. “‘It’s a relaxed movement, but you still pull hard, you are still aggressive.’ “The Italian ‘technique’ has been known for its two-part drive, but de Capua wants to work towards a more fluid movement. ‘I want to achieve the right pressure from catch to finish and do this with harmony. “‘It’s kind of a dance. You have to dance on the foot stretcher. “‘You have to let the boat float.’ 7718 De Capua, qtd. by www.fisa.org 7719 See Chapter 19. 7720 The New Italian Stroke, www.fisa.org, August 1, 2005 7721 Ibid. 7722 In 2005, Pettinari teamed up with 1998 and 2003 World Lightweight Singles Champion Stefano Basalini. They came in fourth, right behind third-place Robert Sycz and his new partner, Pawel Randa. “De Capua was also influenced technic- ally by reading Steve Fairbairn, the very influential British coach of the early 1900s7719 (‘The gliding recovery, the fluent catch’).”7720 De Capua’s results were impressive in his first year on the job. At the 2005 World Under-23 Championships, “Italy won medals in eight of the 19 events, and four of them were Gold. Italy finished third overall in the Rowing World Cup points table, a result that included the men’s eight winning for the first time in a number of years.”7721 In the 2005 Senior World Champion- ships in Gifu, Japan, Italian men medaled in eight of fourteen events, two Gold, four Silver and two Bronze. In 2005, the revamped Athens Bronze- Medal-winning Italian Lightweight Coxless- Four was a good representative of de Capua’s technique changes. After the Pettinari and Luini Double had broken up the previous year,7722 Luini joined the 2005 Lightweight Four. 2149
