Dan Ayrault | Friends of UC Irvine Rowing

History Lesson

By David Heimerl|2020-08-29T21:11:15-07:00March 12th, 2014|Categories: History, Olympics|Tags: Conn Findlay, Dan Ayrault, Duvall Hecht, Jim Fifer, Kurt Seiffert, Lake Washington, Melbourne, Olympics, row2k.com, Stanford|

Some fun Olympic rowing history featuring our illustrious Founder, Chief Steward and Coach: Duvall Hecht

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Row your optimum power every stroke, try and increase the optimum. Men as fit as you, when your every day strength is gone, can draw on a mysterious reservoir of power far greater. Then it is you can reach for the stars.

George Pocock, Rowing Coach, Boat Builder

It is not pain, it is just lactic acid.

Duvall Hecht, Olympic Rowing Gold Medalist

From the first stroke all thoughts of the other crew must be blocked out. Your thoughts must be directed to you and your own boat, always positively, never negative.

George Pocock, Rowing Coach, Boat Builder

You make a living by what you get. You make a life by what you give.

Winston Churchill, British Politician

Excellence is an art won by training and habituation. We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.

Aristotle, Greek Philosopher

Rowing a race is an art, not a frantic scramble. It must be rowed with Head Power as well as Muscle Power.

George Pocock, Rowing Coach, Boat Builder

That is the only way champions are made. That is the legacy rowing can leave you. Don't miss it.

George Pocock, Rowing Coach, Boat Builder