THE SPORT OF ROWING Your author had the privilege of rowing against Larry Klecatsky several times, though I never saw him after the first few strokes of any of our 2,000 meter races. I am pleased to have reconnected with him during the writing of this book. Larry and his wife now live in South Carolina. Stone: “I tried to follow Sy Cromwell’s advice about Klecatsky’s technique, and Larry was pretty helpful, too, allowing me to go down to NYAC that Thanksgiving and train with him.”7005 “I really didn’t find my speed until the summer of 1977. Tiff and I were training in a double, in theory for the Worlds, but we went to Henley and were smoked in the final by Baillieu and Hart.7006 “Back in the U.S., we each returned to singles, just for the experience. As soon as I got in my single, about a week before the Trials, I knew something was different and better. A few 500s confirmed that I had the speed to beat Jim Dietz. I didn’t know why it happened – I still don’t – and I was very afraid the magic would leave before the Trials . . . but it didn’t. I throttled way back in the heats and semis before opening up in the final and walking by Jim in the third 500. Obviously, the work in the double had tightened my style. “If we had been in a national system, maybe I could have done all my training in a double and not slowed by the time of the Worlds each year, like I seemed to. “But we were not, and in a national system, some higher performer on the erg 7005 Stone, op. cit. 7006 See Chapter 130. Igor Belakovsky / scullingfool photography Stone père et fille would have been selected ahead of me anyway.”7007 Stone’s Technique Looking at Gregg Stone row, the explosive catches impression was similar to that of Dietz and Klecatsky, that represented a rejection of the tradition of American scullers from Ned Ten Eyck to Don Spero in favor of what the Rosenberg Style had mutated into. But as with Jim Dietz, appearances were deceiving. Stone’s force curve was, and still is, a near parabola to the release, Schubschlag at steady state, fading barely into borderline Kernschlag during power-10s. Stone: “The success of the CRASH-B eights,7008 which I have organized, and general comments throughout those years were that I had a nice rhythm and was easy to follow as a stroke-oar.”7009 Stone’s record in his single at the World Championships was eleventh in 1977 and ninth in 1978. He failed to advance in 1979. With Tiff Wood, Bruce Beall and Al Shealy, 7007 Stone, op. cit. 7008 Boston-based all-star crews. 7009 Stone, op. cit. 1962
