THE SPORT OF ROWING Century, he is considered a lovable if irascible icon and a national treasure. Seiffert: “In describing Conn’s personality, his generosity and loving friendship should not be overlooked. For as long as I can remember, my wife Pam has received a valentine from him every year. I suspect Kent Mitchell’s wife, Joann, and others have received one as well. At Conn’s wedding reception after marrying Lou, Pam asked if this meant she wouldn’t get a valentine any more. His reply was, ‘You’re not the first one to ask.’ “She still gets her valentine.”3384 However, Conn could also be domineering, inflexible and judgmental, and he never compromised in his quest for excellence. He chose for his pair-partners exceptional athletes, and then he demanded they exceed all previous expectations. That had begun with Dan Ayrault. Dan Ayrault Findlay: “My 1956 Olympic pair- partner, Dan Ayrault, was the captain of the Stanford Crew when I arrived, and he was a great man. Later, he started Lake Washington Rowing Club. “After we had won in 1956, Dan won another Gold in 1960 for Lake Washington in the straight-fours,3385 and the last thing he was trying was an eight in 1964, again at Lake Washington.”3386 Nash: “Dan Ayrault was a brilliant, artistic and sensitive man – a real man in so many ways.”3387 Ayrault will be described in greater detail in Chapter 83. 3384 Seiffert, op. cit. 3385 See Chapter 83. 3386 Findlay, op. cit. 3387 Nash, personal correspondence, 2006 Dick Draeger Rowing in a boat with Conn Findlay could be a stressful undertaking for some. By his second Olympics in Rome, not only had Ayrault moved on to the Lake Washington Rowing Club Coxless-Four, but Seiffert was coxing the LWRC Olympic entry in coxed-fours. Having lost his 1956 partner and two subsequent partners in the meantime, Findlay simply recruited from his Stanford squad 6’6” 201cm 185lb. 84kg Richard Arthur Draeger. Draeger: “I have a vivid memory of the night in late September or early October of 1959 when my fiancé Loree, Conn and I sat in the living room of the home where Loree worked when she was not attending the Stanford Nursing School, and the three of us decided to try to get to the Olympic Games in Rome. We talked about what it would take, not the least of which was changing the date of our wedding by moving it from June to March, 1960 so it wouldn’t conflict with the Olympic Trials. Loree must have loved me and/or Conn a lot, because she agreed to do it. “Conn converted from starboard to port to be able to row with me. It is true that many oarsmen can row either side, but not often at the international level, and not during the 1950s, when training methods were much less sophisticated than they are today.”3388 Technique Their technique was similar to that of Conn’s 1956 Coxed-Pair, with slightly diminished back swing, especially during their later racing at the Olympics when the decision was made to lift order to be more competitive with the German and Soviet crews. 3388 Draeger, personal correspondence, 2008 the rating in 934
