Anyone read The Boys in the Boat by Daniel James Brown that was on the New York Times bestseller list for about a half century? Or the PBS documentary, The Boys of 36, which is available to stream on Netflix?
It is the inspirational story of a group of poor University of Washington students who overcame the odds during the Berlin Olympics by winning the gold with old Heil Hitler himself watching. Poor guy was soooo disappointed when the Americans rubbed their noses in it.
Here’s what I learned from that book and movie – watching men’s crew races was once one of the largest spectator sports in the US. And as wonderful as that is, this is not about that. No. It’s not. But what this is about is how that lead me to discover what are arguably the hottest and most physically perfect men in sport. Herewith, my latest obsession, rowers.
In celebration of the Heavyweight 8 Rowers
For the sake of decorum, I have not shared some of the, ahem, shall we say, more explicit photos. Photos that are notable for the super tight and super lightweight rowing outfits that display not only their gender, but their religion as well. No, we’ll be decorous and share some others.
First of all, these are giants. See this photo? The guy holding the trophy is not particularly short; it’s the guys who are behind him who are particularly tall. The one on the gentleman’s left is 6’8”. And gorgeous. And French. Need I say more?
And they even get to wear cool outfits off the water. Don’t they look kind of normal-sized when they’re all together? They’re not.
If you’re really lucky, you can be a coxswain for a men’s 8 and be a woman. I have a friend who said about his sister, “Only she would get a letter in a sport where she has to tell people what to do.”
Just in case you were thinking of trying to get a job like that, the operative words are, “Pull!” and “Stroke faster.” Just sayin’.
The boats are enormous, and if you get there early enough, you can watch the rowers carry their boats into the water. You’re looking at the boat, right?
The oars are really big too, right? You’re looking at the oars, I know.
One last Oar picture. Warning: NSFW
Anywhere there is a river and/or a university, there are rowers.
Coming up on June 2-4 the National Championships at Rancho, Cordova, California, and closing out the season, The Yale-Harvard Regatta at Gales Ferry, Connecticut on June 10th.
