THE SUNSET OF CONIBEAR Midshipmen soon be known as the “Great Eight.”3984 After that, the pendulum in American rowing began to swing away from the University of Washington. In 1952, they were swept by California in their dual race for the first time in history, and Navy swept the IRA at the new regatta site of Onondaga Lake in Syracuse, New York. Since it was an Olympic year, crews traveled straight from the IRA to the Olympic Trials on Lake Quinsigamond in Worcester, Massachusetts. Ulbrickson entered an all-sophomore eight in the hope that they could rekindle the magic of their 1951 Freshman IRA victory over basically the same Annapolis crew. It didn’t work. Navy won again on their way to an Olympic Gold Medal. Al then took seniors Carl Lovsted and Al Ulbrickson Jr., juniors Dick Wahlstrom and Fil Leanderson, added Jayvee Coxswain Al Rossi, and entered them in the Coxed-Fours Trials where, aside from the Annapolis IRA Champion Jayvee, their toughest competition would come from the Washington Athletic Club entry of ‘48 UW Olympic Champions Warren Westlund, Bob Will and Al Morgan, with teammates Norm Buvick and Rod Johnson.3985 The Husky grads and undergrads advanced through the preliminary races until “Ulbrickson’s hand-picked crew finally defeated their older brethren in the final and were off to Helsinki as the third crew ever to represent Washington at the Olympics.”3986 For a second consecutive Olympics, Al Ulbrickson declined the opportunity to accompany his crew, even though his own son was on board. He wrote to George 3984 See Chapter 64. 3985 See Chapter 61. 3986 www.huskycrew.org Pocock, already on his way to Helsinki with the team boats, and asked him to take over. www.huskycrew.org: “Through various breakdowns communication misunderstandings, the crew got to Helsinki to find they basically did not have a coach. Although Husky alum Stork Sanford did watch the team a couple of times, it was a self-coached team that won Bronze at these Olympics.”3987 Stan Pocock: “In one of her letters, Mother described Dad’s disappointment when told he was not to coach the UW Four. After they won the Trials, Al had written to ask that he help them as he had helped Westlund’s crew in 1948. Dad made the mistake of assuming that he could do so. “It was a matter of toes being stepped on. Al’s letter should have gone to Rusty [Callow, coach of the Navy Eight], who, after all, was the head coach. Whatever the reason, they received no help from Dad during the workouts leading up to the regatta, and no one else helped them either. He tried to give them tips when they were off the water, but that was not enough. Had he been allowed to bring them along, they might have been good enough for the Gold Medal.”3988 www.huskycrew.org: “After coming from behind to defeat France, Norway, and Argentina in the semi-finals, the crew fell just feet short of Switzerland for the Silver and about three seconds behind Gold Medalist Czechoslovakia in the final.”3989 Four years later, another Washington coxed-four would enter the 1956 U.S. Trials, but there it placed only third. The era of University of Washington crews directly representing the United States in the Olympics had ended. and 3987 www.huskycrew.org 3988 S. Pocock, Way Enough, p. 92 3989 www.huskycrew.org 1103
