Rowing is a sport about alignment and synchronization. The rowers respond to the coxswain’s commands. If one rower is creating too much drag with their oar or rowing at the wrong time, it creates friction as the boat moves through the water, slowing down the entire group.
A group of young men from sun-deprived Seattle didn’t have a lot of rowing experience. But the University of Washington students, who hailed from humble backgrounds, had heart and determination. And UW’s head coach Al Ulbrickson had a special knack for shaping and molding rowers’ raw athleticism into something more.
A key part of Ulbrickson’s strategy was to put together the best possible team that would set egos aside and work together. One person in the wrong position would hamper the team’s chances for success.
Ulbrickson mixed and matched team members until he found the right combination. This wasn’t about simply finding the best rowers, but the best combination of rowers. The best combination of friends. Their mission, together, became “rowing as one.”
The perfect combination consisted of Bobby Moch at coxswain, Donald Hume at stroke, and Joe Rantz, George Hunt, Jim McMillin, Johnny White, Gordon Adam and Charles Day, with Roger Morris in the bow seat.
“This was a hardscrabble bunch, mentally and physically tough from years of manual labor and dogged perseverance,” the University of Washington wrote in a reflection of the team. “Ulbrickson declared them the Washington varsity eight. They would never lose a race together.”
The team was successful that season, winning the collegiate championship. Then they headed to the Olympic trials where they faced the top crews in the country. Somehow, some way, the University of Washington team won, earning them an invitation to the 1936 Olympic games which were held in Berlin.
The UW team—facing crosswinds and choppy waters—struggled in the early going of the race. But the team kept rowing with a united goal: finish first. Driving. Pushing. Outsprinting other teams in perfect harmony. In the last stretch of the race, with the crowd noise deafening, they churned past the German team and caught the Italian rowers to take a lead with just 50 meters remaining. It was a race to the finish.
The final stretch.
The rowers’ oars glided through the water in unison, propelling the boat forward toward the finish line. Three boats, neck and neck.
The University of Washington team’s boat crossed the finish line first. Just one second separated the medals.
The boys in the UW boat were Olympic champions. Their story was later detailed in the book and movie The Boys in the Boat. It’s a story of resilience and what we can accomplish together when we put ego aside and come together as one, focusing on eliminating friction between you and your goal.