THE SUNSET OF CONIBEAR The 1960 Olympics In 1920, the Naval Academy won the Olympic Trials to earn the right to represent the U.S. in the Olympics in Antwerp. They entered the Olympics undefeated and remained so in winning the Olympic Gold. That crew set the tone for the next thirty-two years, as undefeated college crews repeatedly won the U.S. Trials and marched through the Olympic preliminary heats and finals without a single loss, culminating in the 1952 undefeated Olympic Champion Naval Academy crew. By contrast, in 1956, Yale won the Trials despite losing to Cornell during the season. They won Olympic Gold despite losing in their opening heat and only earning a spot in the semifinal through their repêchage. In 1960, the trend seemed to accelerate. The third Annapolis crew to represent its country in the Olympics had been beaten no less than four times before winning the Trials. The responsibility of continuing an American tradition of Olympic Gold Medal performances, a tradition which had been begun by another Annapolis crew forty years earlier and continued by a second Navy crew in 1952, fell on the shoulders of the 1960 Middies. Bos: “I didn’t really feel a lot of pressure to uphold the great tradition. I think it gave us confidence knowing that Navy guys knew how to do it. “Since they were in the midst of their careers when we were rowing, we never saw the 1952 crew in 1960, but we did see the Class of ‘20. They were having their 40th Reunion, and as I recall, they were all there. They took a photograph of all eight of them and the coxswain. “I remember seeing them when I was at the boathouse that day, and unfortunately there was no planned interaction with us. At the time I was 21, and I remember thinking, ‘Boy look at how old those guys are. It’s amazing they’re all still around!’ “Of course, by now [2006] our crew has had its 40th and even 45th Reunions. A sobering thought . . . ”4076 The Scrimmage with LWRC In Rome, both U.S. pairs and both fours were from Lake Washington Rowing Club in Seattle with Stan Pocock as their coach.4077 Pocock: “From the day we first joined the team in New York, there had been angling going on to organize an intrasquad race. Lou was the first to broach the subject. He thought that perhaps a 2,000 meter [scrimmage] pitting his eight against a lineup I put together from the small-boat crews race a week or so before the Games started would help his men. I said it would be fine with me as long as my oarsmen were willing and there were no publicity. “Privately, I thought that the Navy Crew had a lot more to lose than we did. “Next, Conn [Findlay from the Coxed- Pair] and Dan [Ayrault, Conn’s 1956 Gold Medal pair-partner and a member of the 1960 Coxless-Four] asked me. Both Ayrault and Dick Draeger, Conn’s new partner, had rowed for Lou at Stanford, and Conn spent most of his spare time doing things around the Stanford shellhouse.4078 They were chomping at the bit to have a go at Navy.”4079 Ted Nash, another member of the Lake Washington Coxless-Four: “It was definitely Lou’s idea from the start. I and the people I spoke with thought that nothing good could come of it. We were older, more physically mature, and very 4076 Bos, op. cit. 4077 See Chapter 83. 4078 See Chapter 82. 4079 S. Pocock, pp. 172-5 international competition. No crew in the experienced in 1129
