THE SPORT OF ROWING “What an easy mark I had turned out to be. At the height of my life, I couldn’t tell the truth from fantasy. I blamed Stuart . . . “ . . . and so I tried to hide my embarrassment and equal his verve with my own trick . . . my Pope Story! “That youthful foolishness has now extended into middle age, but never in all these decades has my story convinced even one official or one coach or one single oarsman that I really did stand in line to see the Pope! “Mea culpa! As history teaches us, Rome is a double-edged axe. The only good side of the story for me was that Stuart Mackenzie became ill and had to withdraw from the 1960 Olympics.”3566 Associated Press: “Stuart Mackenzie, the young sculler from Australia who was regarded as a Gold Medal certainty, put in a surprise appearance at Olympic Village and said it wasn’t definite that his bleeding ulcers would force him out of competition. “Mackenzie strolled into the Australian headquarters while officials were seeking him in England, on the Continent and in South Africa. “‘I’m having some trouble with ulcers,’ the strapping six-foot-four sculler said, ‘They’re still bleeding, and I’ve had little chance to train. But if the doctors say I’m okay, I’ll row,’ “A three-time winner of the Diamond Sculls at Henley,3567 young Mackenzie was rated as a championship certainty in his event.”3568 Halberstam: “[Defending Olympic Singles Champion Vyacheslav Ivanov] and Mackenzie worked out before the 1960 Olympics on Lake Albano, and Mackenzie 3566 Nash, personal correspondence, 2007 3567 By 1960, it was actually four times since 1957. He would go on to make it a record six in a row. 3568 Associated Press, August, 1960. Exact date uncertain, from Kent Mitchell’s rowing album. realized that he could not possibly beat Ivanov. Mackenzie had one Silver [behind Ivanov in Melbourne in 1956], and he did not seek another. He did not row in the Olympics.”3569 Sayre: “I love Ted. I wish I could bottle his enthusiasm. When I sent him a copy of that newspaper article, all I said was, ‘Gee, Ted, sorry I missed the Pope!’ “I just wish the other guys from our boat were still here with us to share in these memories.”3570 In Memoriam Arthur D. Ayrault 1935-1990 After graduating from Stanford and serving in the Navy, Dan Ayrault became a teacher of math and history and coach of rowing at the Lakeside School at the north end of Lake Washington while he was rowing for LWRC. At Lakeside, he “continued the tradition of the Lake Washington Rowing Club and their unorthodox emphasis on weight training and dry-land conditioning,3571 meaning the oarsmen plunged into this program using barbells and running flights of stairs.”3572 Later, after earning a graduate degree at Harvard, he returned to Lakeside School as its headmaster until his early death in 1990. Ted Nash: “Dan was one of the most intelligent men I’ve ever met. He was both serious and funny. He was an accomplished folk singer and guitar player, and I doubt he knew how good he was. He just really enjoyed playing for people. “He was very close to his lovely wife Susan, his family and later his Lakeside School. 3569 Halberstam, p. 95 3570 Sayre, personal conversation, 2007 3571 See Chapter 84. 3572 www.lakesideschool.org 980
