Men of Kent: Ten Boys, A Fast Boat, And The Coach Who Made Them Champions

by Rick Rinehart

Men of Kent is a book about ordinary boys who find themselves in extraordinary circumstances - members of the Kent School crew who were 46 and 0 against the competition, and in 1972 won the Henley Roayal Regatta at Henley-on-Thames in England. 

232 pages, Paperback

First published September 14, 2010

About the author

Rick Rinehart is a publisher and author of three books, the most recent of which he co-wrote with his wife Amy, Dare to Survive: Death, Heartbreak, and Survival in the Wild. A former Colorado Humanities Scholar, he is also chair of the Mary Roberts Rinehart Foundation's awards program for talented, emerging authors. A member of The Leander Club, Henley-on-Thames, England--the oldest, largest, and most successful rowing club in the worldRinehart is a contributor to such websites as American Thinker, Icecap, and Denver Examiner. He lives in Lafayette, Colorado."

Reviews

[Alexander Van · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well, I may be a little biased, seeing as I read this book in a single day, on a bus driving to Delaware to compete in the St. Andrew’s regatta, on behalf of Kent School, serving as KSBC’s third varsity eight’s four seat. So yes, reading a book written exclusively about my team and my school, the day before a race for that team, was a very good experience. Gives a lot of things, such as the shell which hangs above me while I erg, some context. Very cool. Go KSBC!

[Matthew · Rating 1 out of 5]

Seeing as how I attended a prep school and rowed there and later on the Charles River, I thought this book would make some connection with me. It didn't. It is a rowing book last, an irritating history of Kent first, and a weird biography of sorts second. I would recommend this book only to people who rowed at Kent in the 1970s - a pretty small group of people. The author makes many claims (most about how awesome Kent is) and plugs its originality as a school; sadly, these ideas are neither original nor unique to Kent (at all). Seeing as how it was actually one of the last New England prep schools to get going not even 100 years ago, it took many ideas from other schools, not least the 'vaunted' 'work/study' concept which other prep school had practically been founded on (namely, Mount Hermon, my alma mater, which the author spends two pages trashing. At 65+ years old, I don't know who cares about old teenage rivalries. For those who care who are reading this: Mt. Hermon, which couldn't care less about rowing and focuses on its nationally successful basketball, ice hockey and water polo teams (among others), lost to Kent by a handful of seconds my year at NEIRAs and beat them, in the author's words, 'easily' the next. All that must have been embarassing to a school that spends millions on boathouses vs a school that rows out of a glorified shack with old equipment).

All of this is a shame, for what his rowing team accomplished (he sat bow, last guy in the boat) was and is truly impressive - an undefeated regular season in the US, a victory at the Prep School Championships (no small feat), defeating several experienced college crews, winning the highschool national championships (very impressive), and then going on to the Henley Royal Regatta to win the Princess Elizabeth Challenge Cup (truly remarkable). It may be the best performance by a high school crew ever. But his rowing writing, which relies heavily on previous literature to describe the sport, never goes anywhere. It never gets descriptive about what any of these races meant or what it felt like to row them - each race is nothing but a few remarks about how the race actually progressed, not the pain, not the feeling, what it meant to row together, what it meant to walk through another crew, etc. There is nothing on the satisfaction of winning or losing (or coming close to it in this case. In short, it fails as an interesting rowing book despite the incredible events he is writing about.

Lastly, this book actually includes the line (starting a haphazard section on his life) "In 1953, my father impregnated my mother." Who writes that?

Don't read.

[Kate Craig · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lot of details for such a short book. So many to choose from. The story of KSBC's undefeated 1972 season sets the tone for the entire manuscript. Rinehart sometimes gets distracted from the main storyline, but he always reels himself back in. It's a great story of winning on the water, perseverance, honor, and passion.