The Agony and the Ecstasy of Rowing
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AUTUMN 1979 a a THE AGONY AND THE ECSTASY OF ROWING Volume 34, Number 3 Autumn 1979 THE FEATURES 4 THE AGONY AND THE ECSTASY OF ROWING SHRUM Sheila Ritchie 8 THE UNIVERSITY CHAPLAINS Generalists in an Age of Specialization BOWL Eleanor Wachtel 10 THE LAST LAUGH When Simon Fraser University In Search of that Elusive Beast, Clansmen College Humor meet the UBC Thunderbirds Trevor Lautens in the United Way Charity Game 14 GEORGE VOLKOFF: Friday, October 19,1979, A Particular Kind of Genius 8 pm at Empire Stadium. Tim Padmore 17 A DEGREE OF INTEGRITY UBC will be defending the trophy won The Major Change in B.C. Education last year. Net proceeds from the game Policy that has given Degree-Granting are donated to the United Way Status to a Private College Campaign. The 1978 game drew 12,000 Murray Mc Millan fans and realized $35,000 for the United DEPARTMENTS Way. 19 NEWS 24 SPOTLIGHT Tickets: $6, $4 and $3 (students) from 30 LETTERS the Vancouver Ticket Centre. CHRONICLECLASSIFIED (A special studentrate of $2 available only through school 30 and campus sales.) - EDITOR Susan Jamieson McLarnon, BA'65 UBC supporters have seats on the west EDITORIAL ASSISTANT Christopher J. Miller (EA, Queen's) COVER PHOTO Ken Mayer side of the stadium and SFU on the east. Editorial Committee Dr. Joseph Katz, Chair; Dr. Ross Stewart, BA'46MA'48, deputy-chair; Dr. Marcia Boyd, MA'75; Geoff Hancock, Come early and attend the BFA'73, MFA'75; Michael W. Hunter, BA'63, LLB'67; Murray McMillan; Bel Nemetz, BA'35; George Plant, ALUMNI PRE-GAME BASc'50; Lorraine Shore, BA67; Nancy Woo, BA69. ADVERTISINGREPRESENTATIVES WARM-UP PARTY& Alumni Media: Vancouver (604) 688-6819 Toronto (416) 781-6957 DINNER By special arrangement this issue of the Chronicle car- 6 to 73pm, Sports IHall of Fame, B.C. ries as an insert an alumni edition of UBC Reports, the Building, PNE grounds. university administration's campuspublication. The UBC information office has responsibility for the edito- rial content and production of UBC Reports. The Dogwood Roomwill be serving dinner ISSN 0041-4999 cafeteria style,so plan to bring the whole Published quarterly by the Alumnl Assoclatlon of the Unlversily of Brltlsh Columbia, family. For reservations call the alumnioff ice, Vancouver, Canada. The copyrlght of all contents IS reglstered. BUSINESS AND EDITORIAL OFFICES: Cecll Green Park, 6251 Cecll Green Park Road, 228-331 .... Come, givea cheer ... Vancouver, B.C V6T 1x8. (604)-228-3313SUBSCRIPTIONS: The Alumnl 3 Chronlcle IS sent lo all alumni of the unlverslty. Non-alumnl subscrlptions are avallable at $3 a year. student subscrtptlons $1 a year ADDRESS CHANGES: Send new address wlth old address label 11 avallable, lo UBC Alumnl Records, 6251 Cecll Green Park Road, Vancouver, B C V6T 1x8. Canadian college football Return Requested. at its best.... Postage pald at the Thud Class rate Permlt No 4311 Member, Councll for the Advancement and Support of Educatlon Indexed In Canadlan Educatlon Index Sheila Ritchie The Aaonv “Friday evening, July30, 1954 was a ~YOUG!moment for Vancouver; athletesof 24 countries marched into Empire Stadium to open the British Empire and Commonwealth Games... What thrills the and the Ecstasy next fewdays provided. On Chilliwock’s Vedd,erCanal, the untried UBC boG!t upset mighly England in the 8-oared event. This was the beginningof a decadeof groiwing rowing achievement.” “CBC Sports- of Rowing ’ estled comfortably in thepraotective lap of Stanley Park’s Coal ]Harbor, the Vancouver Rowing Club (Van- couver’sN oldest athletic organization; es- tablished in 1886) was the early ,training groundfor LJBC oarsmen.There, with borrowed VRC equipment, trainingfacil- ity and coach Frank Read (a VRC :interna- tional rower), an inexperienced yet grizzly bunch of rowers delivered their oars tothe chilling harbor waters. The next 10 years -- th.e Frank Read era from 1950 to 1960 -- sawthe development of fledgling oarsmen into top-flight UBC crews. And to extendthe progress beyondthe col- legiate season in April, Read mobilized the famousVRC-UBC combination, a pooling of collective rowing power, estab- lishing a string of international victories to include threegold and foursilver medals. Itseems somewhat ironicthat UBC rowers, by tradition,have nev’er been athletes. Many came from limited aquatic programs in the interior regions of the province andsome couldn’t even swim. “I never saw a crew from UBC with,winning ~ ~~ ~ .~~~ ~~~ potential”comments Read. “Most boys Over and down - One foot in - And built-insauna right in the heart of an came out for crew when they found they away -- Number off from the bow when iceberg.” couldn’t makeany other team. Ihad a ready -- Sit up - Ready - Row.” On good daysthe crew witnesed a group of boys whom I helped and guided. A morning weekday rowto Second priceless scene of splendid sunrise colors They showed up and did thework.” Narrows Bridge was typical. The punish- - golden yellow and blazing red, Canada The tearn’s successful reputation began ing 36 strokes per minute at periods from geese honking in flight, inviting brewery to attract a horde of aspiring oarsmen to one tofive minutes were interrupted only smellswafting over thewater and the the daily practices. The grueling fitness by the leisurely flick of Read’s cigar ash as changing energy level of a city coming program -- Frank Read’s McDonald’s he followed behind in the coach boat. alive. Abdominals, soon renamed McDonald’s “On weekends we never knew how far While few oarsmen enjoyed the hard- Abominables - was a series of 16 strenu- he would push us,” recalls John Cartmel, ships .weather provided, manystill re- ous, gut-wrenchingcalisthenics which BPE ’66. “The point of no return was minisce about the beautiful memories of discouraged all but the most dedicated. Second Narrows Bridge. When Frank fi- the8-oarcd boat. To them it was the Four sets of 40 squat jumps, arms fully nally said ‘easy all’, we were grateful. But epit0m.e of the sport and, if not the only extended above the head, with a total of lookingaround, we found ourselves 50 event (others include single, double and one minute’s rest has to this day,become a feet from Port Moody’s beach - a total 36 4-oared events), itwas certainly the one in practised ritual. mile row.” which UBC specialized. “For land training we used one corner The ha1 touch to every workout was “The cohesiveness and aestheticfeeling of WarMemorial Gym,”recalls Lyle the 2,000 metre race (the standard dis- of 8 men swinging through the full. span Gately, BEd ’68, MA’71. “And because tance for all men’s events) from the CPR together, lifting the boat out of the water the sweat used to peel the varnish off the dock past the memorized landmarks - oil and flying was magnificent,” notes Bill gym floor, it had to be refinished every barges,pilings, the Royal Vancouver McKerlich, BEd’60. “People talk about year. Worse thanthat was the muscle Yacht Club. Then the wheezing cry of highs today. As far as I’m concerned, soreness. We couldn’twalk downhill “Taconite” (a yacht moored 20 strokes nothin,g has ever compared to the feeling without collapsing and one week later we from theclubhouse) echoed across the of being in that boat.” were still wallung backwards.” harbourand ushered in an exhausted PhilWebber, BCom’68, LLB’69, a Training twice daily year-round on the crew. laterrower, agrees. “It’s the totalto- water was even more rigorous.The junior Weather was never a problem; that is, getherness with nature and and the feeling and varsity crews assembled promptly at practices were never cancelled because of of eight guys gettingiton with 250 strokes 5:30 a.m. in VRC’s dark, damp changing it. Flimsy singlets and shorts were often over 2,000 metres; a symphony of wood, room where the Stanfield longjohns, stiff mean targets for cold, unrelenting winds water and humanity anda harmonic sense from salt and sweat, hung like boards and and pelting hail and rain. of the physical surroundings with mind the incoming tide used to rise above the DonArnold, BPE ’62, remembers and soul.” narrowly-spaced flooring. breaking a skiff of ice to clear the theshell The mastery of such an intricate skill After lighting a coal stove to warm the past Coal Harbour. And for Lyle Gately, requires the perfect orchestrationof every water supply for after-practice showers, the memoryremains clear. “From the instrument - blade catch, pull and re- the coxswain directed the team to the dry-bow of the longboat, looking down the covery - a cloning of every oar’s move- ing room tomanoeuvre the shell, a reluc- backs of the men, bent and rasping over ment in time to a finely tuned machine. tant 16 foot centipede, to thewater’s edge. their oa:rs from fatigue, I can still see the The frustration of coordinating all oars “Above heads - Up - Inside grips - steam rising as the snow falls. It was a withthe shell’s precarious balance and .-” ”,.. -.*?IPL, . ” w .__- - .~“ ., Whatever theelements of awinning number of alumni whohave been in- crew,the initial success story for UBC volved in the UBC program since 1960 rowers has muchto do with coaching. (when Frank Read retiredfrom coach- Many oarsmen believe Frank Read was ing).Whether as referees, assistants or ahead of histime as acoach bothin coaches, they continue to contribute their strategies and in thepsychology of sport. time and expertise to the success of UBC maximizing the run of the boat (space be- If notthe instigator, certainly he im- crews. tween the last stroke and thenew one) was plemented many techniques before they RodBell-Irving, BSc’73, alumni borne out by miles of fatigue and mental becamevogue.