THE SPORT OF ROWING high for the full first minute, none able to shake off the others. “Then they dropped down, and after the first two miles Pennsylvania began going back. “Then, in the third mile, Columbia began dropping back. “Up front, California at times went into the lead for a few strokes, but the Navy boat refused to be shaken off and came right back.”2072 Stroke-seat Don Hume: “We were at 28, way over on one side of the river in the outside lane, and because we were down at such a low stroke, we were way behind everybody. “Well, Moch decides that the currents are better over on the inside of the river, so he starts cutting across the river, this is the truth, about four or five lanes.”2073 Moch: “We were in the outside lane on the left, and Syracuse was in the lane alongside of us to our right. “After we’d gone about half a mile, we were very close to Syracuse, and the reason is that you go underneath a bridge at about a mile to go, and you’re going with the current, and as the current goes past the buttresses of the bridge, it’ll go by it and then curl back up on the outside. “If you get in that curl-back you’ll practically stop, so I had to get over far enough to miss it, and I wasn’t going to do that at the last minute. I was going to do that right from the start to get a straight line. “So we got closer and closer to Syracuse, and their coxswain was yelling at us not to come so close. Finally I had just about enough of that, so I gave the crew a signal for a big 20 extra-hard ones, and after we had taken about four or five strokes and were starting to go by them, the Syracuse 2072 Ibid. 2073 Qtd. by Scott Riefenstahl, Olympia, Teil II: Fest der Schönheit Bob Moch 1936 University of Washington Coxswain coxswain said something else to me, kind of derogatory, I forget what it was. “I just leaned over and said, ‘Oh, go to Hell, Syracuse!’ and by the time he could recover, we were by them.”2074 The New York Times: “The crowd had stopped thinking about Washington, all save a few graduates who had converged on Poughkeepsie for this event. But suddenly that Washington boat, which had been stroking 30 and 31 and sometimes lower through the first three miles, jumped to 35 as the bridge that marks the start of the last mile loomed into view. “The shout went up, ‘Here comes Washington!’ and the crowd turned from the two leaders and their fight, looked back to where Columbia was slowly dropping away, and there was Washington, right alongside. “The crews smashed into that last mile, and the onlookers went wild. “One of the excursion steamers let loose with its whistle, and then puffs of smoke appeared at the stacks of other boats 2074 Ibid. 572
