Perseverance and The Olympic Story Lost in Time Most people have never had to persevere-holding onto that last sliver of hope-as much as nine American boys who were thrown from their small Washington towns onto the international stage, back in 1936. Don Hume, Joe Rantz, Shorty hunt, Stub McMillin, Johnny White, Gordy Adam, Chuck Day, Roger Morris, and Bobby Moch were all part of The University of Washington’s inspirational 1936 Olympic crew. Each of these rowers had their own stories of perseverance, determination, and grit bringing them together to work magic on the water. They trusted each other, relied on each other, and most importantly they had total confidence that “no man would pull the full weight of the boat”. So what you need to understand is that these boys were not born with silver spoons in their mouths and they had to work hard to succeed.
This crew was composed of sons of loggers, shipyard workers, and farmers, not sons of businessmen or lawyers like the crews back east, like Harvard or Yale, were made up of. They persevered and had the drive to succeed, and it payed off after years of work with a gold medal in the 1936 Olympics in Berlin and the satisfaction of wiping the smile off Aldoph Hitler’s and his German crew faces. Perseverance is the steady persistence in a course of action, a state, etc., especially in spite of difficulties, obstacles, or discouragement. Like I mentioned before, most people don’t have epic stories of Perseverance like the members of Washington’s 1936 crew. But what makes an story or moment of true perseverance legendary? It all starts with the inner drive that leads to the determination to succeed.
Then adversity comes into the picture and screws up your whole game plan. “Plan A” i. .my rowing coach has taught me a lot about this idea of “perseverance and grit”. Not letting your crew down, driving onto the finish, and being able to truly believe that the rest of your crew is just a tired and in just as much pain as you are during a race. Over Washington’s 1936 Crews epic journey of perseverance and determination they experienced more adversity, pain, and discouragement than most face in a lifetime.
They entered the University of Washington as boys and emerged as men. This was the inspirational tale of perseverance and one of the Greatest Olympic Stories lost in time. “Rowing is perhaps the toughest of sports. Once the race starts, there are no time-outs, no substitutions. It calls upon the limits of human endurance. The coach must therefore impart the secrets of the special kind of endurance that comes from mind, heart, and body.
”Thank You
