THE SPORT OF ROWING sional watermen like Mark Hunter, 8830 George Pocock8831 and their ancestors rode under Old London Bridge for seven hundred years. It starts tentatively, gains strength, reaches its high water mark, and then the ebb begins, first slowly, then in a rush, final- ly exhausting itself . . . before the cycle be- gins again. A rowing technique begins with an idea, then a burst of passion and creativity, per- haps sustained by the personality of a single athlete or coach. It thrives, matures, runs its course and is eventually abandoned by all and soon forgotten. The once-revered ath- lete becomes a name on an old, discarded boat out back, somebody’s grandfather, a medal lost in a drawer. The coach becomes a name on a trophy, a faded photo above the bar. But then, days or months or years later, another generation rediscovers the very same concept, new to them, in a book or on film or on the water . . . and the cycle begins anew. Bill Tytus, Pocock Racing Shells: “As old George Pocock used to say [taking on a British accent], ‘It has to go all the way to the bottom before it can start going back up.’ “‘It goes in cycles, fifty year cycles, and you never get to see two.’”8832 Puddles Come to think of it, the individual row- ing stroke begins with an entry, runs its course and then on the recovery leaves just a puddle that fades into the distance. Puddles that become the center of ever- expanding circles in the water . . . until eventually they are gone. On the best of days, that recovery can make time feel like it’s standing still. No past. No future. But then the cycle renews itself with the very next entry. On those best of days, each pullthrough is new and exciting and alive and unique. In their sameness, there is infinite variety, infi- nite creativity, infinite challenge, infinite joy. On those best of days . . . Geoffrey Page: “It is memories of long paddles and rows on calm autumn or spring days that remain with me. This is when the oarsman truly hears the boat sing.”8833 Memoria Mori These days, after writing this book full of the deeds of great rowers, the water I still row on “seems to be peopled with the mem- ories of those who are gone.”8834 So many of the heroes who fill the pages of this book have now left us. Io immagino lassù in cielo una grande distesa azzurra, sempre calma, mai mossa dal vento o disturbata dalle onde, sulla qua- le ognuno di loro, sulla propria barca, pos- sa continuare l’esercizio preferito.8835 To all of you fellow members of the world rowing family, I give you this history so that together we can share two hundred years full of the best of days. 8833 Page, p. 170 8834 Bourne, Memories, p. 2 8835 “I imagine in heaven above a grand expanse 8830 See Chapter 144. 8831 See Chapter 45. 8832 Tytus, personal conversation, 2007 of blue, always calm, never moved by wind or disturbed by waves, on which each of them in their own boats can continue their favorite exer- cise.” – Maurizio Ustolin 2492
