THE SPORT OF ROWING Denmark second. The following day in their semi-final, they had no trouble defeating France. The New York Times: On the third and last day of the regatta, “the eight-oared crew from the Penn A.C. triumphed in the Euro- pean Rowing Championships with a large lead over their two competitors in the final today. An immense crowd, which thronged the Liege Exposition grounds near the finish line, cheered the Americans, whose time of 5 minutes 27 2/5 seconds for the 2,000 was remarkable in view of the rough water. “Italy [Gli Scarronzoni from l’Unione Canottieri Livornese1955] finished second, trailing by two lengths, while Denmark was third [six lengths further astern]. “This is the first time that Americans have ever participated in the European Championships, and the performance of the Penn A.C. has increased the prestige of American oarsmen.”1956 1931 Season The following year, Emanuel McGreal came into the boat on the port side, 4-man McNichol moved to stroke, and Chet Turner was demoted to the 6-seat of a second Penn A.C. eight made up mostly of younger oarsmen. The most noticeable feature of the tech- nique of the 1930 boat had been its tendency to smoothly reach out an extraordinary dis- tance together with the body mostly at the very end of the recovery, almost an elegant lunge. This was apparently not intended by Frank Muller, and this feature largely disap- peared in later years after McNichol moved into the stroke seat. However, things did not initially go well for the new lineup. John B. Kelly, writing 1955 See Chapter 73. 1956 Penn A.C. Eight Wins Title in Liege Race, The New York Times, August 18, 1930 in June, 1931: “About a month ago, Coach Muller felt that the Penn A.C. Big Eight was not moving fast enough, and they were get- ting a little temperamental. The crew took exception to this, and the result was that Muller organized a new crew from members of last year’s Junior Eight and arranged a race with the Big Eight. The new combina- tion defeated the Big Eight [in practice] three times in succession, which gave the impression that the Big Eight was finished, for the present season at least. “We felt this crew had gone stale and needed revamping. Soon after their defeat by the junior crew, we broke up the Big Eight.”1957 The Schuylkill Navy Regatta, held every June, traditionally accepts only a single en- try in each event from each club along Boat- house Row. Muller was ready to enter his new younger Penn A.C. boat made up of bow Al Vogt, 2 Charles Drueding, 3 Ed Marshall, 4 Tom Pierie, 5 Latimer Law- rence, 6 Chet Turner, 7 Harry Grossmil- ler, stroke Frank English and coxswain Permar Richards. Kelly: “However, before entries had closed for the Schuylkill Navy Regatta, the Big Eight, still smarting under the lash, asked Coach Muller if they could get the old crew together to compete against the new eight. The Showdown Kelly: “I have been watching boat races for the past thirty years and have seen some of the most important ones, so I am qualified to say that this was the greatest boat race of all times. “The crews got away, and at the first quarter the Big Eight was leading by about five feet. The new eight sprinted at the mile point and came abreast of them. I say sprint, 1957 Qtd, by Sweeney 528
