The Boys in the Boat (4D24)

Date: 01/04/2025

Good morning everyone! I am 4D 24 Chris. What’s the most unforgettable sports moment you have ever witnessed, either in a story or live? For me, I would say The Boys in the Boat is the earnest depiction of the purest sportsmanship and an extraordinary demonstration of warriors in pursuit of their dreams.

The book typically refers to a true story related to the rowing crew from the University of Washington during the 1936 Berlin Olympics, which narrated the journey of a group of working-class young men of the same passion who come together to form a rowing team, overcoming numerous obstacles and challenges. As encapsulated in the book, the economic difficulties of the Great Depression, the troubled past of the crew members , an era which wars are on the brink of, all excelled in creating a background to showcase the determination, resilience and teamwork of the crew.

Eventually, they not only strive for victory in the world prestigious sporting event, but also consolidate their friendships and develop deep bonds within them. With their championship serving as a testament to their hard work and dedication, their story transcends in the field of sports, becoming a model of hope and perseverance among the world.

Sports played an inviolable role in strengthening one’s mentality. Throughout the story, we witnessed how those passionate young men were wrecked by the cruel reality and plagued by self doubt along with disbeliefs from people around them. Their sanity was in close proximity to eradication. Still, this could not defeat their dedicated love of rowing ,but  instead, motivated them and brought them courage to stand up against the skeptics with hard work and determination, proving to them their capability of accomplishing greatness. It is their passion in this sport that defeated  the countless setbacks they encountered along the way for them to develop into a greater person.

I`ve been talking about sports’ importance to us as a whole, but a key element of sports, the spirit of teamwork should also not be overlooked. At the core of the story, we are also able to take a glimpse of how teamwork fostered the team’s triumph. Each of them must not only excel individually but also understand the significance of their role, adapting to one another’s weaknesses and strengths to work as a cohesive team. There is no ‘I’ in ‘team’, everyone must sacrifice their sense of ‘me’, to push their team to a greater whole. The essence of their success lay in collaboration and the collective endeavour of the shared goal. Furthermore, this created an inseparable bond within them.With rowing,  young people that didn`t know each other beforehand are able to be bonded together to achieve the same goal, creating friendships of decades. Isn't that charming and astonishing for how just a simple passion of ourselves impacts our entire life and paves the way to success?

Sports is never about winning the glimmering rings or cups of victory, but a testimony to our effort, the journey in which challenges were conquered and mistakes were made to become remarkable lessons of our future self. We too, can draw inspiration from the boys in the book,

Every drop in the ocean counts, every note in a song matters. It is the small things people exhibit: Trying, failing, trying again,  that keeps everything from falling apart, without realizing, you are contributing to something greater now. A single drop might not make an entire ocean, but without a single drop, it is certain that no ocean will ever be formed. Don’t hesitate, embrace your flaws and fight for your better self.