Summary

On the evening of January 9, 1936, Ulbrickson gathered all the boys in the shell house and warned them that the upcoming season would be more grueling than ever in preparation for the Olympic Games. He and Pocock worked long hours analyzing the boys individually, trying to figure out which combination would make the strongest for first varsity, the boat that would row in not only in the western and Poughkeepsie regattas, but also in the Olympics. One person Ulbrickson knew he wanted to use was coxswain Bobby Moch. Moch was the perfect size to be a coxswain – five feet seven inches tall and weighing119 pounds. He was the optimal size for the ships Pocock built. A coxswain’s main job was to steer the boat (they did not row, but controlled the rudder), but they also set the stroke speed and...