THE SPORT OF ROWING be patient and also be aggressive. I didn’t always succeed. In ‘94, I was probably one of the culprits. If you look at pictures from the side, it’s pretty clear. “I was sitting between Klepacki and Brown, and my legs were way ahead of theirs.”7800 As in the 1992 Canadian squad, several chins lifted during the back swing in the middle of the pullthrough. All of Spracklen’s crews of the 1990s seemed to look like they were straining mightily at their oars throughout the pullthrough with the intention of sending the boat as far as possible. However, the rhythm was smooth and flowing in the Classical Technique mold, the result of long miles of full pressure steady state at low ratings. Klepacki: “What Mike stressed within the realm of technique was maximizing power for every given stroke rating. We would do umpteen workouts at 22, 24, 26, back to 24, up to 26. They call them pyramid ladders, and he wasn’t satisfied until he had all these boats moving at a phenomenal speed at these lower ratings so you knew that you were maximizing the power output on the drive at these lower ratings.7801 “And he always said, ‘There are only a few things that move a boat: • power through the water • length of stroke • rating7802 “Whenever the boat is slowing down, you want to go back to power first, length of stroke second and rating as a last resort. That was your fail-safe. You never wanted to have to rely on that the whole way down 7800 Koven, op. cit. 7801 Compare to the workouts of Kris Korzeniowski, Chapter 124, and Bob Ernst, Chapter 148. 7802 Compare to Rusty Callow, Chapter 64. the course. Jacking the rating was something you did in the last ten strokes. “Mike’s view on the technical aspects of rowing was very detailed to the point where he got you thinking about the finer points. He put a beginning and an end to the stroke whereas many coaches explain it as a continuous rhythm and loop. “He definitely emphasized catch technique. We did specific drills to work on the catch, and he would actually refer to the bell-note. “We would sit there, eight guys in the boat, and we would go down the line, starting with Sean Hall in bow. Sean would come up by himself, take the catch, do a full drive through and pause at the finish. Then he’d have the other eight guys score his catch. “Mike would say, ‘Jeff, what did you think of that catch?’ “‘It was a 7.’ “‘Jon Brown, what did you think?’ “‘7.5.’ “We all gave a rating on each stroke. “We also worked on the finish. Mike was always one to talk about that when the body mechanics were going to break down, the first things to deteriorate would be the front of the stroke and the end of the stroke, the catch and the finish. “He thought that if we focused on those two areas, especially during the latter part of the race, we could maintain connection of the blade to the water and maintain boat speed when most people were slowing down.”7803 Spracklen: “The blade is as important to the rower as a brush is to an artist or a stick to a hockey player, but bladework skills are seldom taught well, and the skill level of oarsmen who came to train with the team was not high. Some oarsmen did not know the difference between a good and bad bladework, and one way of showing them 7803 Klepacki, op. cit. 2174
