Never Give Up – Kent Mitchell Olympic Success Story

Kent Mitchell Olympic Rowing Success Story - Never Give Up

My childhood dream was to be an Olympic runner.  I'll never forget when my dad's friend, Kent Mitchell showed me his Olympic Bronze medal from 1960 Rome games and his gold medal from Tokyo in the men's coxed pair rowing competition.  Seriously, my jaw dropped in awe.  The medals were so heavy, ornate, and shiny.  Most of all, this moment told me that anything is possible and that for some, dreams do come true.

Kent was another amazing overall life success story.  He went to the Olympics while going to law school, studying for the Bar exam and working 30 hours a week.  He was the coxwain for the rowing team.  That's the person who's represents the coach, drives the pacing and implements with lightning decisions the exact strategy for winning.  He has to monitor the team's pace, the competition, steering, weather, fatigue and more.  A coxwain knows the difference between a stroke rate of 36 and 37 per minute without any instruments.  The coxwain also has to be extremely light as the team is pulling him along in the boat.  Kent weighed 108 3/4 pounds the day of the finals!kent mitchell olympic coxwain 2 man rowing rome 1960 tokyo 1964 gold medal image

Kent studied at Stanford for his undergraduate degree and graduated in 1060, and they were national champions in 1961 and 1962.  He was a UC Berkeley (Boalt Hall) law student from 1961 to 1964, worked 30 hours a week to put himself through school and made all the training hours with the rowing team.  I'm not sure who he roots for on "Big Game" day where the Cardinal faces off with the Bears.  He has also been inducted into the Stanford and National Rowing Hall of Fame.

How did he get started in rowing?  Was it his childhood dream?  Flash back to Kent as a young freshmen at Stanford hanging out at the dorms.  He loved sports, but at 5'8" he was quite sure he wouldn't make the football or basketball teams.  One of the guys asked him to come out for crew and be a coxwain.  Kent replied "not interested".  The young man continued ... you'll get one unit for PE and a guaranteed "A".  Believe it or not, that's how he got started.  He was voted MVP as a freshman and then he was hooked on the sport.

Obviously, a very low weight is necessary for a coxwain to excel in this sport.  Kent explained his grueling regimen for preparing for the championships and getting under 110 pounds.  He could do no exercise, as that would increase lean body mass.  He was limited to 1500 calories a day for 6 weeks.  He said the first couple of weeks were very hard, and the rest were OK.  He got used to it.  Still, with such low caloric intake, he had to sleep 12-14 hours a day while going to school, working and rowing 2 times a day!

When I asked him what he had to give up to achieve this level of success in his sport, he mentioned playing bridge.  To me, that seems like a small price to pay for a lifetime of wonderful memories, inspiring others and amazing friends.  Mostly it was big events due to competition travel.  He missed his own graduation ceremony and a course that would have helped him study for the Bar exam.  Obviously, he is a man with the self-discipline to study on his own and succeed, but it would have been easier with the course.

One of Kent's team members was Con Findlay.  In rowing, sometimes the coxwain will exaggerate the truth to  motivate the rowers.  Con told Kent to never lie.  Kent had to find a way to be completely honest while encouraging the rowers to go beyond their physical limits.  Perfect pacing is critical in victory.  Every team is performing out of body.  They have built up an incredible pain tolerance and oxygen efficiency in preparation for the final race.  Con said "I never reached the 1,000 meter mark (1/2 way) where I didn't doubt finishing."  He also was known to say "I never wanted to be in a boat if others weren't better than I."  That's a man who loves competition and inspiration!  Rowing is a complex strategy and it is the coxwain's job to be the brains of the team.  Kent would script the details of the entire race beforehand including the stroke rates and quarterly splits.

The other keys to success in athletics and in life that Kent learned and shared are worth posting on your office wall.  You must be committed to excellence.  In rowing, strokes, body position, everything must be precise and as close to perfect as possible.  In business it's the same - focus on excellence in all you do.  Also, humility and the team operating as one is paramount if you want to win.  This takes letting go of your self and ego and allowing humility to blend and create a synergistic team that is connected as if it were one organism.

Kent and his team were fortunate to have been coached by one of the best rowing coaches of all time - Stanley Pocock.  At Stan's memorial service, Kent shared this story:  "While coaching Dan Ayrault, Conn Findlay, and Kurt Seiffert in the men’s coxed pair prior to the 1956 Olympic trials, Pocock was questioned by Ayrault. “Dan turned to Stan and said, ‘You know, Stan, you’re the fifth rowing coach I’ve had. Each tells me something different. I’m not sure what I should be doing.’ Stan just looked at him and said, ‘Dan, put your mind at ease. All you have to do is forget what all the other coaches have said to you. Listen to me and accept what I teach. If you’re not willing to do this, we can forget the whole thing. It is up to you.’”
Ayrault decided to accept what Pocock had to say. He went on to win two Olympic gold medals. In fact, of the eight Olympic crews that Pocock would coach, four won gold, two won bronze medals, and seven of the eight made the Olympic final. No other USRowing coach has ever come close to achieving that level of success at the Olympic Games. Yet despite this, Pocock joked that when he was inducted into the rowing hall of fame in 1979 it must have been a slow year."

At the Olympic games, Stan was preparing the athletes for the finals.  He must have known they were fully prepared and ready.  He said the most amazing thing "gentlemen, on the starting line look to your left, look to your right.  You are among the top 6 teams in the world."  Truly wise advice and a moment to cherish forever.

I met Kent in the 1970's when he was the local mayor of the town of Portola Valley, and was re-elected for three terms.  He had a thriving law firm and was a hard-driving lawyer for his clients.  As in sports, he would do whatever it took to win.  "Never Give Up" became his motto.  We all ran together on the hilly horse trails on the coastal range and I remember Kent regaling glorified stories of his cases and looking for "smoking guns".  This man has amazing energy and enthusiasm for  whatever he does.

He gave back to the rowing community more than anyone I know.  He started the Kent Mitchell Rowing Club for elite masters rowers - mostly former Olympians and national champions.  He uses his incredible mind and attention to detail to organize the equipment, timing, splits and stats for rowing regattas (competitions) around the world.  JAMCO for Splits Regatta Services independently operates a split timing system and publishes JAMCO Race Bulletins, providing precise and detailed race data from major rowing regattas in the United States. These reports are of great value to competitors, coaches, and the media because they expose the strengths and weaknesses of the crews, and exactly how the race progressed from start to finish. The JAMCO for Splits system has been used by NBC TV at the 1988 and 1992 Olympics rowing events to help them in their coverage.  Thanks to Kent, there is data going back to 1958 along with all the criteria for selecting Hall of Fame athletes.

After Kent won the Gold in Tokyo, his first emotion was "thank God this is over".  He didn't even remember the ceremonies, just a huge relief.  That speaks volumes to the focus, sustained effort and commitment to success that he and his teammates had.

Thank you Kent for all your contributions to the sport and for your inspiring life and story.

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