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Quote by Brad Alan Lewis

“Every student of physics knows the axiom 'nature abhors a vacuum.' A little known corollary is that 'rowing coaches detest sending their crews in early.' Coaches will always find something to fill the end-of-practice vacuum.”

Quote by Brad Alan Lewis

Author

Brad Alan Lewis

Brad Alan Lewis, born in 1954, is an outstanding Olympic athlete. He has achieved remarkable success in the field of athletics, representing his country in multiple Olympic Games and winning numerous honors. more

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“Coach's Rule: never admit a lack of experience or knowledge. Carry on at all times as though you've guided a hundred champion crews. Honesty is not the best policy when leading a bunch of college rowers. They are looking for strong, disciplined leadership and not a kinder, gentler coach. Once you've established a certain attitude and demeanor, it's nearly impossible to change to a difference mode in mid-season.”

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“Picasso spent hundereds of hours carefully planning his masterpieces. The sketchbooks were filled with ideas, bits and pieces, test runs, none of it meant to be seen by anyone. In a similar way, rowing practices are our sketchbooks, where we prepared our raceday masterpiece.”

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“...well this US eight, with all its material occupying every seat just would not go fast. They rowed their hearts out but it never started to sing through the water. And no one ever found out why. The answer to this is slightly mystical because the sum of a crew is greater than its parts. Those eight heavyweights had not time to develop the bond, the sacred trust, that can make a racing eight fly.”

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“[He] would drive his sculling boat through mile after mile, in a silent brutal programe of conditioning - he would work all alone, at first light, punishing himself without mercy. His was the private dignity of the lone athlete, with a grim purpose, fighting a solitary war with himself, toward a goal only he can see.”

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Source: True Blue: The Oxford Boat Race Mutiny

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“I watched them carefully, as always, searching for a sign of mental weakness. But there was none. Every man was coping well with the hardship, each one of them locked into his task. But it is one thing to practice, and quite another to race. And the trouble is, you never know who, on the day, will find it within his soul to give more than he has ever given before. It takes a kind of madness to compete like that, because of the will power and the ego, and his loyalty. And while some men have it, others have yet to find it. And a coach can only use his best judgement as to who those men will be.”

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