Word: musts
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Dates: during 1940-1949
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...instance, at the beginning of each stroke, the oarsman must flip his writs to turn the oar so that it enters the water absolutely perpendicularly. The slightest variation from a 90 degree angle will cause the oar to "knife in" and dig too deeply into the water. When this happens, the handle of the oar is apt to come up suddenly and hit the unsuspecting rower in the stomach, often lifting him unceremoniously out of the boat and depositing him in the river...
Even if the oars hit the water cleanly, there are still an infinite number of factors for each man to concentrate on. The stroke itself, which is accomplished by a combined pull of the arms, push of the legs, and swing of the body must be achieved with all the power it is possible to muster. At the same time, it must be done as nearly like the other seven men as possible, and above all it must consume exactly the same amount of time...
Even the recovery is no simple matter. The oars must leave the water together, a snap of the wrists must feather them, and the crewmen must slide their bodies forward and their oars back into position again with a smooth, even motion that does not check the run of the shell. If this much is accomplished successfully the whole cycle begins again, and each man must concentrate on doing exactly the same thing in the same way once more--about 300 time in a mile-and-three-quarters race, or about 700 times in the classic four-mile Yale race...
...best coach this side of the Mississippi. By the end of Easter vacation, which usually comes only a couple of weeks after the crews first hit the water, he has his varsity picked, out, and he can start perfecting all the minute details of style that must be learned before the first race...
...eight men who occupy the first boat are invariably of similar build broad shouldered and long-limbed. In addition to these criteria, the prospective varsity oar must be endowed with coordination, large quantities of stamina, and equally generous amounts of enthusiasm, patience, and guts. But a man can have all the latter qualifications and still not become an oarsman unless he has the height to give him leverage to generate the needed power...