This is the story of Joe Rantz, a charismatic young man born dirt poor in the woods of Washington State, who dreams of escaping the challenges of the Great Depression, and a complicated family life full of painful memories. What follows is an extraordinary journey, as Joe and 8 other young men exchange the sweat and graft and dust of ordinary life for the purer rigours of sport at its very highest level - a journey at the end of which lies a gold medal rowing race at the Berlin Olympics of 1936, in front of Hitler himself.