Zig Danziger spent 30 years writing the book about his time on the Rowing team at Yale University. He died last week and
Small Puddles
his friends and colleagues joined me on this week’s RowingChat in his memory.
Carole Claps is his publicist, Alix James is mentioned in the book and rowed at Yale on the womens team, Dave Vogel was his coach of the lightweight squad and Mike Hard was his best friend. Mike couldn’t join us live
– here’s Mike Hard interview in full.
Listen to RowingChat with Zig Danziger on SoundCloud
Timestamps to the interview
01:00 Introduction and connections to Zig
05:00 Zig was the most altruistic person I ever met – Carole
09:00 The “Golden Oar” awards dinner story – where’s the check / cheque?
14:00 What it was like rowing at Yale in 1980s – Alix
16:00 Title IX and the naked sit-in at the athletic director’s office
22:00 Quitting the program wasn’t an option
24:00 As a coach, I had little incentive to drop an athlete – Dave. My first memory of Zig
34:00 How rowing creates bonds that help to overcome adversity
36.00 The psychology of the non-quitter. An environment that encourages testing yourself and surpassing your limits.
42:00 The top rowers were “Gods”
46:00 Why buy the book? The mundane details of collegiate rowing life are accurately described. Rowing is an organising force for self-management.
As a sport it’s a moving meditation.
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I enjoyed reading Zig’s book. I sent the author a note saying how much I enjoyed the book and he was kind enough to reply. I had no idea how ill he was at the time. He certainly seemed a considerate gentleman.