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Third Secret Rowing Team 1986 |
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In 1986, I was attempting to win my way onto the United
States National Rowing Team. That
summer, I first attended the National Team Camp, which was a gathering of
"selected" rowers from all over the country.
These rowers, including myself, had proven themselves in various tests
and races over the course of the year, and had been invited to Cornell University for final selection to the
team. Like all selection camps of this
nature, the practices and races were brutal.
We were pitted against each other in rowing machine tests on the land
and in "seat races" on the water. The
seat races involved switching individuals from one four oared racing shell to
another after a maximum effort race "piece" of five minutes duration. We would then race again and note the
difference between the shells.
Presumably, the immediate objective of each rower was to win
the race against every other rower he was matched against. The next objective was to be one of the final
twelve that were selected to represent the country in the eight oared and four
oared with coxswain crews. The final
objective was to, hopefully, win the gold medal at the world championships.
I had come into the camp ranked fairly high on the "side" I
rowed. In a "sweep" boat, each rower
held a single 12 foot six inch oar, more or less. Half of the rowers in the crew held the oar
out to the port side, half out to the starboard side. You became known by your side. I was a "starboard". A couple of weeks into the camp, I had done
well in my "seat races" and in the other tests and was looking pretty good for
the top boat, the eight oared shell.
However, the environment of the camp was extremely unhappy. To me, it was oppressive, sad, and
negative. The head coach, Kris
Korzeniowski, was an excellent technician who had rowed and who had been
trained in Poland. He followed an "Eastern Bloc" mentality in
his coaching, which meant there was very little room for inspirational
leadership. Rowing was a job, and a high
stress one at that. There was little
encouragement, and little attempt to stir the soul. Having said that, Kris did his job very
well. We were physically fit and
technically competent.
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