Olympic Legends: The Boys in the Boat

In the late spring of 2007, author Daniel James Brown climbed the split-rail fence separating his pasture from the adjoining property. His 93-year-old neighbor Joe was dying.

Joe Rantz was one of only two living members of the nine-man crew that shocked the rowing world in the early to mid-1930s—especially at the 1936 Berlin Olympics.

The Husky Clipper and its crew

Brown’s multiple discussions with Joe Rantz and his daughter birthed one of the most captivating books I’ve ever read, and reread. His research also included interviews with family members of the crew, access to personal diaries, trips to Germany to see the Olympic race course, access to video archives of the 1936 Olympics and much more.

The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics was published in 2013. The PBS American Experience series aired a documentary The Boys of ’36 in 2016. A movie version of the story was released on Dec. 25, 2023.

The magnificent 62-foot Husky Clipper still turns heads when viewed in the Conibear Shellhouse dining hall on the Seattle campus of the University of Washington. Students smiled knowingly as they walked past my wife and me on our 2018 visit.

Its crew members are all gone now, but if only the Husky Clipper could talk . . .

An adjacent study and lounge houses memorabilia, including gold medals. The medals are not just Olympic, but also from the Poughkeepsie (New York) National Collegiate Championships (four years’ worth—1934, 1935, 1936, 1937).

When rowing together, three of the men in the legendary Olympic crew (Joe Rantz, Roger Morris and George “Shorty” Hunt) never lost a competitive race. One writer estimated that each pulled nearly 470,000 strokes of his oar in training over a four-year span.

What lessons might there be for us in such an inspiring epic of human striving for physical excellence?

A family goal

When Brown asked Joe Rantz for his permission to write the boys’ story, the aged oarsman agreed to further interviews, plus his full help and cooperation, with one stipulation: “It has to be about the boat.”

At first Brown was puzzled—but understanding came. Joe didn’t want it to be just about him.

In striving for a common goal, those nine remarkable young men were bound together in a tight family-type relationship.

Isn’t that at the heart and core of God’s plan for His children? Three times in a four-verse span the author of Hebrews refers to Christians as “brethren” or “children” (Hebrews 2:10-13).

One astonishing statement says it all: “For both He who sanctifies and those who are being sanctified are all of one, for which reason He is not ashamed to call them brethren” (verse 11, emphasis added throughout).

Christians are called to be God’s sons and daughters—to be brought into His glorified family as Christ’s co-heirs (Romans 8:14-18; 2 Corinthians 6:18).

The bond those nine young men built lasted their lifetimes. Even more inspiring is the purpose of God’s plan for them and all humanity—a family bond for eternity!

Nothing worth having comes easily

Brown’s explanation of the physical demands involved in competitive rowing (including oxygen deprivation and lactic acid buildup) is powerful:

“The common denominator in all these conditions—whether in the lungs, the muscles, or the bones—is overwhelming pain . . . 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” (p. 40).

Paul’s words to Timothy leap to mind: “You therefore must endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ . . . If anyone competes in athletics, he is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules” (2 Timothy 2:3, 5).

Christ taught that the path to God’s family is not the easy one. Do we have the determination needed to obey God in a world obstinately headed in the opposite direction?

“For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us,” wrote Paul (Romans 8:18).

Being part of something larger than ourselves

In 1933, the University of Washington’s freshman crew coach addressed aspiring crew members. Tom Bolles “sometimes spoke of life-transforming experiences. He held out the prospect of becoming part of something larger than themselves . . . [experiencing] moments they would remember, cherish and recount to their grandchildren when they were old men. Moments, even, that would bring them nearer to God” (p. 41).

His speech is reminiscent of what Paul told the Christians in Ephesus—that they were part of a building—a holy temple—constructed on the foundation of apostles and prophets, with Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone (Ephesians 2:19-22).

Is any physical cause bigger than that?

Humility is a must

What’s the first scripture that leaps to your mind when you think of God’s calling? How about this one:

“For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called. But God has chosen the foolish things of the world . . . the weak things of the world . . . the things which are despised God has chosen” (1 Corinthians 1:26-28).

His point? To criticize, demoralize or shame His chosen? Just the opposite. God’s choice “shames” the world’s hubris-filled powerful by demonstrating His power in humble, responsive children. His power enhances their God-given gifts!

The purpose? “That no flesh should glory in His presence” (verse 29).

Brown wrote this about Joe’s team: “The challenges they had faced together had taught them humility—the need to subsume their individual egos for the sake of the boat as a whole—and humility was the common gateway through which they were able now to come together and begin to do what they had not been able to do before” (p. 241).

The enemy doesn’t fight fair

The University of Washington rowing team easily won their preliminary heat for the 2,000-meter race, setting a new world best time of 6 minutes, 0.8 seconds. By Olympic tradition, they should have been awarded the favored lane for the final event.

With our spiritual challenges, God makes the impossible possible.They weren’t. Berlin’s Olympic officials put the American team in the worst lane. They would battle wind and choppy water for nearly 1,500 of the 2,000 meters!

“[It] was the opposite of the usual procedure, in which the fastest qualifiers earned the favored lanes . . . The best lanes were the protected ones closest to shore: lanes one, two and three; the least desirable were lanes five and six . . . [The assignment of lanes] gave the protected lanes to the host country and her closest ally, the worst lanes to her prospective enemies. It was deeply suspicious” (p. 334).

Lane one, Germany; lane two, Italy; lane six, U.S.A.

Does any of this sound like the tactics of God’s archenemy, who tries to twist and distort God’s words for his purposes (Matthew 4:1-11; Genesis 3:4, 5)?

The “boys in the boat” won anyway!

With God’s help, so can we.

We must do the impossible

In the final torturous sprint to the wire, the American team hit an estimated stroke rate of 44 beats per minute, winning by six-tenths of a second over Italy. Third-place Germany was four-tenths of a second behind Italy. All three boats crossed the finish line within the space of one second.

The American crew had never rowed that fast, that smoothly, ever. But to win the race required doing what seemed impossible.

Has such a thing ever been required of God’s servants? It most certainly has. We could almost say it’s “par for the course!”

What of the three young men thrown into the fiery furnace? The Israelites walking through the Red Sea? Peter stepping out to walk on water?

With our spiritual challenges, God makes the impossible possible (Matthew 19:26).

Are we all in?

Fulfilling God’s purpose for us makes us whole

Joe Rantz was deeply moved by their Olympic victory. He had been abandoned by his family and had felt like an outsider, a loner. “Rowing crew” gave him a purpose, a family and earthly honors, transforming his life. He felt whole—restored. Yet it was all physical.

On a deeper level, humanity is missing something crucial.

Since the Garden of Eden, we have been cut off from the tree of life.

But God’s plan for humanity reverses that:

“Blessed are those who do His commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life” (Revelation 22:14).

God will restore, refresh and make us truly whole as His beloved children. That’s our awesome future!