Sunday, August 25, 2013

George Yeoman Pocock


“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. This is why most ex-oarsmen will tell you they learned more fundamentally important lessons in the racing shell than in the classroom.”

“It is hard to make that boat go as fast as you want to. The enemy, of course, is resistance of the water, as you have to displace the amount of water equal to the weight of the men and equipment, but that very water is what supports you and that very enemy is your friend. So is life: the very problems you must overcome also support you and make you stronger in overcoming them.”

Our friend Jack Ridley scores again in recommending The Boys in the Boat. We have only begun and yet this will be a great read. It follows the story of 9 young men and their quest for an Olympic Gold in 1936 in Germany.

One of those men was Joe Rantz. As the author Daniel James Brown was interviewing him for the book Joe told him that he would like for the story to be told. Then he added, “But not just about me. It has to be about the boat.”

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