The Shell Game: Reflections on Rowing and the Pursuit of Excellence

by Stephen Kiesling

A Californian who had never touched an oar before arriving at Yale, Stephen Kiesling became part of the “engine room” of the varsity eight. His senior project was to write a book on the philosophy of sport while attempting to qualify for the Olympic Team. This is his story, told from inside the shell, of one of the most exciting races ever rowed. It is also his journey to the World Championships and, finally, the Olympic Team—when his competitors were his own Yale teammates and the Olympic coach was the Harvard coach, still aiming to beat Yale.

Genres: Sports, Nonfiction, Memoir, History

164 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 1982

Reviews

[Katie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This isn't a universal recommendation but I deeply enjoyed this book. The author's account of developing from a novice rower to a rowing-centric(/obsessed?) college student was perfectly on point. Any book that allows me to feel the emotion of being back in a boat, and relays just how rowing can not just overtake your life but become your life, is a winner for me. My heart fluttered a little with every tie into the foot stretcher.

[Jenny · Rating 5 out of 5]

A book that every rower should read, or anyone interested in the pursuit of excellence!

[Ike · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book tells the tale of an olympic athlete who starts out as a scrawny high schooler who is unable to compete in athletics. Steve matures in college at an Ivy league school and discovers competitive rowing in the process. The reader is carried through his experiences in learning from his body and also competing on a world class level.

[Edward Kidder · Rating 3 out of 5]

Never got to row in college but wondered what it was like? This tells it.

[Phil Hulse · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book about rowing and life.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good book that takes you into the mind of a rower. If you're a rower or curious about the sport this is a great book to start your reading search.

[Jalaluddin Abdullah · Rating 5 out of 5]

"The Shell Game" recounts Stephen Kiesling's personal history of rowing in eights, focusing especially on the Yale-Harvard race, the Henley Royal Regatta, and the preparations and selection camp for the national team for the ill-fated 1980 Olympic Games. Along with "The Amateurs," "The Shell Game" and "Mind Over Water" seem to make up a perfect trio of personal odysseys in the sport of rowing. Of the three, "The Amateurs" is certainly the best written (after all, David Halberstam, need one say more?), but "The Shell Game" and "Mind Over Water" let you peek directly into the minds and hearts of devotees of this weirdly fanatical sport. Focused on three specific events as it is, "The Shell Game" provides a look into a rarefied world of rowing races, from the hidebound tradition of Henley to the grueling trials at the U.S. Olympic selection camp, from the etiquette of international racing to the mechanics of testing athletes to determine not only their racing abilities but even their rate of oxygen exchange.

[Trina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Having grown up in Princeton, I watched many crew practices & races on Lake Carnegie, a man-made lake Andrew Carnegie paid for just so Princeton could have a more gentlemanly sport than football. I also enjoyed the crew races at U-Dub where teams rowed the channel between Lake Union & Lake Washington. So I enjoyed reading this account of competitive racing written by a Yalie. Shell game is a clever play on words since a shell is both a boat and a gamble. Can a college crew team get all the way to the Olympics? 🚣🏻

[Ian · Rating 2 out of 5]

Author is literate and mildly impressed with his own language. I detect sections of his college thesis sprinkled throughout (look for the Freud name-drops). Interesting coverage of the Yale team in any case.

[Rusty · Rating 4 out of 5]

Definitely a book about rowing for rowers. I quite enjoyed the little philosophical musings about sport, rowing in particular, and how it reflects our human nature and societal goals. I don't know if a non-rower would get as much out of this book as I did, but I think it's really nicely written and you can tell the author put his heart into it.

[Zachary Cowger · Rating 3 out of 5]

+Accurate descriptions of college rowing experience
+Thought-provoking descriptions of Olympic selection

-No mention of Mr. Kenneally
-Author holds too much respect for his philosophical insights

Not as good as BOYS IN THE BOAT

[Phil · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very deep thinker

[Leslie Walker · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was interesting to read about Yale after reading so much Harvard (Red Rose Crew, The Challenge).

I LOVED how Kiesling kept coming back to and kept describing in different ways the "pure joy of motion." I really relate to that and loved the way he wrote about it. (not for the writing, really, but just for the content.)

The whole book completely changed in the last chapter and epilogue, in a super unexpected and interesting way. It became a book about humanity, about philosophy and athletics, and I feel like I need to read these last bits 20 more times in order to have all the thoughts I need to have about them.


Things I reacted to from this book:
- I want to watch Tony Johnson race in the 1968 M2-.
- I want to read about Jerry Romano and his family's boatman tradition, and the concept of a "boatman" in the first place.
- What is a second-order fulcrum, exactly?
- I want to find out more about this Yale oatmeal story in 1870? Also apparently sliding seats started in 1871 but that seems so late?
- Something cool about this book was how he let us in on his team's traditions. Gave me ideas for traditions to build with my own team. Like the "captain's log" at the training camp. I like the idea of traditions that are the responsibility of certain members of the team, passed down for "generations" of people who filled that role in the past...
- "Being in shape was not my goal. My body was a tool to test the capabilities of my will."
- Funny that EVERY ROWING BOOK EVER has a lengthy description of its boathouse, and of Henley-On-Thames.
- Kelly for brickwork? Is that a funny thing I should know about ?

[Nita · Rating 3 out of 5]

I first read this book after my first year as a rower, but now I'm re-intrigued as the author is the guy who founded my favorite fruity-rooty magazine, Spirituality & Health.

I have no idea if I liked this book simply because I could relate to so much of it or because it was well-constructed. Whatever it was, I enjoyed it, and I can still see (and smell) one of the scenes in my head, ten years later. That's gotta count for something.

[DoctorM · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this back when it first appeared and loved it. I've never rowed, though I have seen crew races at New Haven, back in my Lost Youth. "Shell Game" is a fine meditation on not just crew and its social world, but on losing oneself in a goal, in abandoning the external world and focusing on the boat and the water and the finish line. Fine writing, and good evocations of the skill of rowing and the world of Ivy rowers.

[David Stanley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kiesling wrote this book not long after his rowing career was finished. It is an excellent look into the world of 'non-revenue producing" sport. I'm a guy who traveled the USA as a flat-broke racing cyclist at the same time Kiesling was rowing. SK did a great job of examining why we labored as hard as we did in obscurity for no money. What motivated us? Read this - it's a good look into the athletic mind and body.

[Terry Heller · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have sentimental reasons for loving this book; it is a memoir of rowing at Yale by an oarsman who went on to row on the US National Team and chosen for the Olympic team that would have gone to the 1980 Olympics had the United States not boycotted them. Rowers and rowing fans should read it; non-rowers can probably skip it.

[Samir · Rating 3 out of 5]

his commentary on and detail of what it's like to row is enjoyable even if you have to suffer through his pride and indulgence of Ivy League competition between uber-privileged (i.e., young, healthy, strong, white) men. Skip ego (i.e. skip pages) hunt for the juicy, technical nuggets in the book.

[Irene · Rating 2 out of 5]

About rowing and life. A light read, overdramatic at times; don't agree with all the great reviews.

[Leigh · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the If I Don't Six for rowers and is surprisingly well-written. I liked it even better than Halberstam's The Amateurs.

[Ajk · Rating 3 out of 5]

Finished Assault on Lake Casitas and want to read something not as good? Shell Game is yours.

[Bree · Rating 3 out of 5]

More ego than boys in the boat. More competition. Less humility. More pain. Captivating. But didn't capture the magic rowing has for me. It was great nonetheless and I learned a lot.