THE SPORT OF ROWING “They continued to move away and were about 1½ lengths ahead by the 1,500. “At 250 meters to go, I shouted something like, ‘Keep it on, Conn, Dick! They’re going to fold now.’ I also called 35 strokes to go, and at this point [Uruguay] began to falter. “With about 25 strokes to go they were obviously dying, and we were only one length back. “The Uruguayans almost stopped. They just had nothing left in them, and we picked up six seconds on them in the last six boat lengths of the 2,000 meters. “When we stopped, Conn squeezed my head like it was a cantaloupe he was testing and remarked, ‘Real good job of coxing, Mitch.’ “Coming from Conn, this really sounded good.”3417 Associated Press: “The Seattle Pair- With-Coxswain came from behind to beat Uruguay. The time was 7:39 flat with Uruguay finishing 7:45.02. The United States crew hung back until the 1,700 meter mark, then pushed the stroke up to 41 a minute to win.”3418 Georg Meyers, Sports Editor of The Seattle Times: “Dick Draeger, Conn Findlay and Kent Mitchell, cox, appear dubious threats to the German and Russian Pairs in the final. The Yanks already had lost to the Russians in a preliminary heat and appeared out of contention in their repêchage when front-running Uruguay folded in the last 100 meters.”3419 Italy and Denmark also advanced to the final by winning their respective repêchages, both in times within one second of the United States. Add in Romania, and it 3417 Mitchell Journal 3418 U.S. Rowers Win Five Repechages, Associated Press, September 1, 1960 3419 Meyers, op. cit. appeared there would be four near-equal crews, including the U.S., in the final fighting for the Bronze Medal. Mitchell: “September 2, 1960. This afternoon there was a headwind, and quite strong, too. That’s the first time it’s ever blown so here, and of course we’re hoping it will hold through tomorrow’s races as it gives our stronger, heavier oarsmen an advantage over the featherweight high- stroking crews. “We received a Lane 1 drawing and have Germany in Lane 2 and Russia in Lane 3. The Final “September 3, 1960. We made it to the starting line and after one false start, occasioned by my Russian friend [Zigmas Jukna], we blasted off at our recently adopted beat of 40. “At the 500 we shifted to 35, and both Russia and Germany were 2 lengths ahead. We were actually sixth and remained so until the 1,000 meter mark.”3420 500m: 1 URS 2 GER 3 DEN 4 USA 1:45.91 1:46.87 1:48.54 1:49.45 5 ROM 1:50.22 5 ITA 1:51.483421 Mitchell: “I wasn’t concerned, however, since we were never more than ¾ of a length behind the Danes, the third place crew during this period of the race. “At the 1,000, Russia and Germany were 10 seconds ahead, and the Danes were even with us.”3422 3420 Mitchell Journal 3421 Intermediate splits, even today, can be quite inaccurate, but this is what the officials recorded. 3422 Ibid. 944
