THE ERA OF POLARIZATION “I asked Volker which was right. He said that in races at 36-38, they’re all rowing with fast hands. “What am I really saying here? Volker says when you talk about comparative technique, it’s not as big a deal as people make of it. In fact, when you look across the different countries, if you look at the way they row at 36-38, there are way more similarities than there are differences. “Now I know that some people don’t row quite to the perpendicular with their shins, some people row a little longer at the catch, some people do lay back a little further, some people carry their blades higher off the water, some people lower, but these are little minor differences. The major points visible at 18, 20, 22 almost do not exist at 38, and that’s what Volker said. “I said, ‘Yea, you’re right!’ “For some reason, in all my years of coaching and rowing, I’ve never really reflected on that.”7990 The trouble is that history has clearly demonstrated over and over that Volker is not entirely correct. There really are differences in international technique that really are a big deal, a very big deal, often the difference between winning and losing. Those two women’s pairs in Athens are classic examples of a difference that is a very big deal: force application. The Issue of Layback But people often see only what they are looking for. They see only what they want to see. For example, as of 2005 virtually the entire Canadian rowing community sincerely believed that Mike Spracklen’s 2004 crews layed back too far,7991 and that’s all they saw. 7990 Morrow, RCA Coaches’ Conference, 2005 7991 See Chapter 151. Al Morrow’s thought process in dealing with the issue of layback is instructive. Morrow: “I was struggling with how to deal with the extreme stroke length of our men’s program, which is a big theme in Canadian rowing with what Mike’s done with the men, and how to put it into perspective. “So I was looking, and I was saying, ‘It’s way too long. It’s way too long!’ “I’d get caught up in what we all get caught up in, that laying back is so inefficient! The blade’s already out of the water, and they’re way back there! [demonstrating long layback] “I’d get sort of argumentative about it in my mind. Of course, I never challenged Mike about it, because that wouldn’t do any good. We’ve all got to work together, so I’m not going to criticize his technique. Eureka! Morrow: “Then, all of a sudden in 2002, we went back to Bañolas ten years after the Olympics, and we were staying in a youth hostel, and I was walking in the lounge area, and I was really emotional. I hadn’t gone back in ten years, and the women had won the pairs, the fours and the eights there, crews that I had coached! “And what was really neat was that on the wall they had all these photos of Olympians who had won Gold Medals in ‘92. I walked in, and there was this mid- race photo of McBean and Heddle in their pair, and I think, ‘Isn’t that cool?’ “And then I noticed that they were laying way back! “I looked at the photo and said, ‘Did I coach that?! Ten years later, I’m the guy who’s disagreeing with Mike Spracklen’s layback? “Had we done then what Mike’s doing now?’”7992 7992 Morrow, op. cit. 2223