Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics by Daniel James Brown
Date Read: 2016; Revisited: March 2019. How strongly I recommend it: 9/10
I love getting caught up in a good story, especially when it is true. And this one takes place in my home city, Seattle. This book checks so many boxes for me. I love to be inspired and see how character and leadership is formed. I’m a sucker for the triumph of the underdog and those who are disciplined and diligent to do great things.
What stuck most was the idea of finding your “swing” as a team – rhythm, harmony, unity and effectiveness to move forward with ease together (see chapter 13).
When I finished reading Boys in the Boat, I hoped someday I would be able to use some of the nuggets of wisdom in a sermon or teaching. Earlier this year the perfect opportunity presented itself when I did a wedding for a couple who met while rowing!
A couple quotes I underlined:
“Harmony, balance, and rhythm. They’re the three things that stay with you your whole life. Without them civilization is out of whack. And that’s why an oarsman, when he goes out in life, he can fight it, he can handle life. That’s what he gets from rowing.”
Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics, Kindle location 6179
“It’s not a question of whether you will hurt, or of how much you will hurt; it’s a question of what you will do, and how well you will do it, while pain has her wanton way with you.”
Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics, Kindle location 766
“All were merged into one smoothly working machine; they were, in fact, a poem of motion, a symphony of swinging blades.”
Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics, Kindle location 4372
PBS did a documentary on The Boys in the Boat, which you can watch here: https://www.pbs.org/video/american-experience-boys-36/
Also, if you live in Seattle, you can see the actual shell this crew used over at the University of Washington.
