Rowing into the Future: Was self-discipline the key to Gold?
- Merry Sorrells
- Nov 4
- 6 min read
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“Eight hearts must beat as one in an eight-oared shell, or you don’t have a crew!”
– George Pocock
I have competed in and watched a multitude of sporting events over the years, but rowing was never one of them. My limited knowledge had me envisioning men and women from Ivy League schools gently pulling oars in unison to the call of the coxswain. The picture in my head was of a peaceful, narrow lake, cradled between two shores boasting aristocratic, collegiate-looking buildings, either at dawn or dusk. They made it look so easy, so it came across to me as a leisure sport of some kind. After a little research, I see the reality of the sport and am fascinated with the grit, fortitude, and sheer hardihood required of each member of the team.
While searching for a special topic to write about this month and grappling once again with my favorite career challenge of determining what students will need from our schools to best prepare them for the future, I recalled a book called The Boys in the Boat by Daniel James Brown. The recommendation to read it came in a Weekly Meditation written by The Reverend Daniel R. Heischman, D.D., the former Director of NAES (National Association of Episcopal Schools). After coming across this story again, it reignited my passion for teaching students the power of the shared experience, which I consider an essential element in preparing students for the future.
The story itself was born of the 1936 Berlin Olympics when a crew of nine American men from the University of Washington took on a Nazi rowing crew, after parading into the Berlin Olympic Stadium in front of Adolf Hitler and 75,000 screaming German fans.
This particular group of young men were described as ordinary men. They were sons of loggers, farmers, and mill workers. They were all from the working class. Many of them came from farm families, while others were city kids who all started rowing as freshmen. Each were products of the Depression, all enrolled at the University of Washington, and none had rowed before college when tryout day came around. Many were in it to earn their way of continuing with their college education. The coach was looking for the brawn of farming boys and the intellect of city boys to build his team, as both brawn and intellect were required to be successful, along with unmatched physical fitness.
George Yeoman Pocock was a renowned coach, rower, and was known to be a bit of a philosopher. He was the designer of the boat and a highly accomplished designer of rowing shells. “The values described in the story of the ‘boat’ were the source of success that achieved the Gold Medal,” said Pocock. "The race was between 14 boats from 14 nations. No didactic teaching will place these values in a young man’s soul. He has to get them by his own observation and lessons.”
Pocock went on to say, “Every good rowing coach, in his own way, imparts to his men the kind of self-discipline required to achieve the ultimate from mind, heart, and body. Which is why most ex-oarsmen will tell you they learned more fundamentally important lessons in the racing shell than in the classroom.”
The moral and physical lessons learned by these Gold Medal winning rowers went far beyond didactic coaching; they were planted deep in their souls by a masterful coach, Al Ulbrickson. As the group of contenders gathered for the team tryouts, Coach Ulbrickson spoke these words to them: “We’re looking for the eight most qualified young men for our JV boat. Eight-man crew is the most difficult sport in the world. The average human body is not meant for such things, is not capable of such things, but we’re not looking for average. Average is not going to get a seat on my boat.”
Extraordinary, flawless precision would be required of these boys, both individually and as a team. These young men would be tasked with moving as if they had one heartbeat. They would achieve a spiritual precision as they crossed each finish line, which would define their shared experience.
When it came time to enter his team for the 1936 Olympics, Coach Ulbrickson made the risky decision to enter his Junior Varsity Team in the Olympics rather than the Senior Varsity Team. He knew that they were the stronger contenders. On some fronts, he knew the members of his team better than they knew themselves.
The Germans did everything they could to handicap the American team before the race, including assigning them to the least advantageous lane, even though their qualifying time promised them the best. Instead, they assigned Germany the best lane.
To set the scene, the Italians and the Germans were highly favored to win the race. The U.S. boat — nicknamed the Husky Clipper — fell behind early with the Italian and German teams surging ahead under wild cheering from Adolf Hitler and thousands of screaming Germans. Not only was the Husky Clipper in the worst lane, most exposed to the wind and choppy conditions, farthest from the shelter of the shore, but their stroke man Don Hume, was suffering from a severe respiratory condition that left him barely able to breathe.
Despite his unseemly condition, he wanted to race, and the night before, his teammates voted to include him in the boat and not replace him with another rower. They wanted to have this shared experience in spite of the handicap his participation would present. He started the race struggling to find his rhythm. Coxswain Bobby Mock believed in his team’s endurance and was able to hold them steady to avoid panic. His goal was to achieve the precision they would need to overcome these deficits.
With 200 meters to go, the Germans were still in the lead by a half boat length. Looking up at Hitler’s grandstand, Mock shouted: “Now! Give me ten hard ones! Ten for the U.S.!”
In the final stretch, Mock decided to take a daring risk. He increased their stroke per minute number from 34 to 40. It was an almost Herculean pace. Despite Hume’s illness, the team responded — their oars slicing water in perfect unison. The shell skimmed the surface, and the team's strokes synchronized to the millisecond.
The U.S. crossed the finish line just six-tenths of a second ahead of Italy, with Germany another fraction behind. It was so close that for moments, no one knew who had won. When the Gold Medal winner was announced, the boys could barely lift their heads. Hume had collapsed, and the others were gasping for air.
In the end, the team had achieved the perfection they were seeking, perfect precision, perfect unison, and a perfect shared experience. Self-discipline was described as the foremost quality that the coaches instilled in this team of young men.
I wonder if we, as educational leaders, spend enough time partnering with parents to teach our students self-discipline. Preparing our students for college and for an ever-changing life beyond college has been the lens schools have applied for years, seeking to structure educational philosophy to best support our students. My best thinking is to go beyond filling their heads with the content they need to be successful in life, but rather to emphasize leading our students from adolescence to adulthood as a way to view our charge as schools.
How do you coach promising young boys and girls into accomplished, confident, and successful adults? How do you teach the ordinary to be extraordinary? How do you teach precision to a team of individual thinkers and doers, to unite them through a shared experience?
Until next time,
Merry
Did you read the September Storyteller? If not, now's your chance. This Storyteller had me reflecting on how I begin my day, and reminded me of the benefits of turning to God before I turn to my phone. Read it now.
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