INTERNATIONAL ROWING TURNS PROFESSIONAL Kocerka and Ivanov. Kelly sprinted at 1,000 meters to cut down Mackenzie’s lead to a half length, followed closely by Kocerka with Ivanov last. “They rowed in the same order to the 1,500 meters, where Ivanov with his powerful strokes passed first Kocerka, then Kelly and finally Mackenzie to win going away by three lengths.”3792 1 Ivanov 2 Mackenzie 3 Kelly 4 Kocerka 8:02.5 8:07.3 8:11.7 8:12.9 John B. Kelly, Jr. had been U.S. Singles Champion eight times between 1946 and 1956. He won the Pan American Singles title in 1955, stroked a Vesper eight to the 1958 European Championship Silver Medal, and won the 1959 Pan American Doubles title with his 1958 7-seat and good friend, Bill Knecht. In 1960 on Lago di Albano, their double was the one last chance for young Jack to be able to stand alongside his father as an Olympic Champion, but Kelly and Knecht were eliminated in the repêchages. After Rome, Kell turned his attention to supporting from shore Vesper’s continuing quest for glory, just as his father had supported Vesper and the Penn A.C. and Vesper again in his own day. The results of his efforts will be discussed in Chapter 107. Postscript In 1985, while jogging back to his apartment in Center City Philadelphia from a Saturday morning workout in a masters’ eight, Jack Kelly, Jr. collapsed on the street and died at the age of 57. He had just been 3792 John J. Carlin, A Report on the Olympic Rowing Events, NAAO Rowing News, December 1956, p. 4 elected President of the U.S. Olympic Committee. Young Jack Kelly was the last of Frank Muller’s great single scullers. Together, they had won one Gold,3793 three Silver3794 and two Bronze3795 Olympic Singles Medals. Young Jack was the last great Philadelphia sculler and the last American Men’s Single Sculler ever to medal in the Olympics. With the passing of Charlie McIntyre in 2008, the era of Jack Kelly and Frank Muller on Boathouse Row came to an end. Charlie was tremendous help to Daniel Boyne with his recent book on the Kellys (see bibliography) and to me with this book. He will also be missed wherever rowers gather to tell stories, especially in his adopted home of Seattle. Don Spero The U.S. Single Sculler at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics was a Cornell graduate from Glencoe, Illinois, Donald M. Spero, 6’2” 188cm 190lb. 86kg. He had gone out for freshman crew in the fall of 1957 after being cut from the tennis team. Spero: “I’d come to Cornell, and I didn’t even know what rowing was. I started rowing, and everyone was talking about our coach, Stork Sanford and about the ‘57 Varsity. They had been the best in the world, had beat Yale twice and beat the Russians at Henley.3796 “Our Varsity wasn’t that good my first year. They lost a couple of races. We went up to the IRA and thought this was going to be a little hairy. We freshmen beat Navy and won. Then the Jayvee won by six inches, and then the Varsity won, too. We 3793 John B. Kelly, Sr. 1920 3794 William Garrett-Gilmore 1924, Ken Myers 1928, Bill Miller 1932 3795 Dan Barrow 1936, John B. Kelly, Jr. 1956 3796 See Chapter 70. 1043
