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The Boys In The Boat Chapter 13 Summary

Decent Essays

Teamwork is Key
“When you get the rhythm in an eight, it’s pure pleasure to be in it. It's not hard work when the rhythm comes- that “swing” as they call it. I’ve heard men shriek out with delight when that swing came in an eight, it’s a thing they’ll never forget as long as they live.” -George Pocock The 1936 Olympics was an international multi-sport event held in Berlin where eight young boys, against all odds, managed to row their way to their first gold medal in the eights rowing competition. The Boys in The Boat by Daniel James Brown delves into the stories of Joe Rantz and Washington’s rowing organization before their victory in the Olympics, revealing the many obstacles they had to overcome to gain the coveted gold medal. At the beginning of Chapter 13, the epigraph above describes the beauty and efficiency of the “swing” in rowing, where a team begins to row in sync in an almost magical fashion, leading to an amazing increase in performance. The following chapter described the creation of the rowing crew and their victory at the Pacific Coast Regatta over their rivals in California. Their victory, however, was only possible through the crew’s performance as a team, achieving the ‘swing’ that Pocock’s described in the epigraph. Teamwork is essential to the success of any organization, large or small. The necessity of teamwork was especially emphasized through Pocock’s comparison between a rowing crew and a symphony, stating “If one fellow in an orchestra was

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