COXSWAIN ON THE BRAIN Scott hopes to be 'a pea in the pod'

Press, Volume CXVI, Issue 34107, 20 March 1976, Page 4

COXSWAIN ON THE BRAIN Scott hopes to be 'a pea in the pod'

(By

TIM DUNBAR)

A former coxswain, who stands just sft lin high, was the man most on the mind of the big American, Gordon Scott, when he left New Zealand this week after a season with the Avon 1 lowing Club. Allen Rosenberg, who coxed the well-known Vesper (Philadelphia) crews in the 19505, is now the United States national coach and the man who will be picking the eight to r go to the Montreal OlymS pics. > Things could not have ' worked out better for Scott this season. He arrived Hili’ expectedly in Christchurch ! last November with a two--1 part plan and his first goal 1 — the winning of a nat--1 ional eights title — was achieved at Lake Karapiro on March 6.

His second aim — a seat in the United States eight — will be just as difficult, but Scott at least has an

oar in as Rosenberg has written, promising to ’’have a look" at him at the San Diego training camp.

Scott will obviously need more than the persuasive power of a 17 inch height advantage to convince Mr Rosenberg that he is the right man for the job. The man who coached American eights to victory in the 1964 Olympics and the 1974 world championships believes that rowing is as much an art form as opera singing and mime theatre, and seeks crews that look like “eight peas in a pod.”

Sixteen oarsmen, besides Scott, have already been picked for the eights training camp, but he is set on making the crew after' missing out four years ago. “Rosenberg might have made up his mind about most of the crew; several are back from the eight that won at Lucerne in 1974. I'll have to take a look at them and see how they row before I size up my chances."

New Zealand rowing is naturally thought of very highly in the United States and Scott’s inclusion in the best club crew here should impress Mr Rosenberg. Two things, however, will make Scott's task difficult. He- will have lost two or three weeks of rowing, after building up to that first peak, by the time he starts up again back home and he will have to revert to “Rowing American Style.”

"It took me a while to get the New Zealand tech-

niqtie ingrained in my head; now I’ll have to forget it." As Scott sees it', New Zealanders have a “regu-

lar” catch and keep the power on all the way through, whereas the Americans have a stronger catch and let the finish ride in.

“It’s a subtle difference, but still quite a difference. 1 couldn't believe the New Zealand style when 1 first saw it.”

Scott added that he might have been a member of the national champion crew here but will have to compete with world champions for a place in the United States eight. “Til be at Montreal one way or the other, though. If I’m not in the team I’ll hate the coach and might cheer for New Zealand,” he joked. Scott will join the training camp in early April and as far as he knows at present the eight should be picked by the end of that month.

His impressions of New Zealand rowing are mainly complimentary and he thinks it "incredible having three eights so close — within about four seconds — at the end of a national championship final.” The likeable American, who reacts well Io such incredulous comments at parties as “Can you hear me up there," because of bis height (6ft Gin). said that there had been virtually no competition for the Avon eight in the South Island.

As a result he was left wondering how good the North Islanders would be. “J didn’t know what they were going to throw at us, but the other boys had been through this two-foot thing (the losing distance the previous year) last lime and they made sure it wouldn't happen again.”

He is adamant, that be has “learnt a hell of a lol” in New Zealand and is particularly impressed wilh the social atmosphere.

“The whole club was really together and behind us, and everyone drank together after a race. Il's different back home; two or three guys would probably go off together and drink in their toom, but that was about it.” What will it. feel like if Scott is racing against some of his old Avon clubmates in the final of the eights at Montreal? “No problems there; it’ll just be a better booze-up afterwards,” said the man who has proved he can keep up with the best of them here. His last appearance was in a demonstration row by the Avon eight on the Cam River in an old Canterbury Rowing Club boat. This shell has definitely seen better days, but Scott said he would have gone out there even if he’d had to do it on a raft. An interesting sidelight is that Scott did most of his early rowing at Syracuse University (New York), the place where the New Zealand team will make its first appearance on its pre-Olympie tour next June.