THE WINDS OF CHANGE the famous Canadian sculler, was supposed to stroke the boat, but he got injured.”2419 Fred Lane believes that Guest and his 1954 7-seat deserve a lot of the credit for the success of the 1955 crew: “Bruce Crocco [‘56] was as great a 7- seat as you could wish for. He was in the Varsity boat in his sophomore year [1954] when he was 7-seat behind the great Jack Guest, who had an enormous reach and showed us all what could be done to pull that oar smoothly through the water and make it bow. “There is an analogy here between breaking the four-minute-mile and having Jack Guest and Bruce Crocco as examples. Once you see that certain things can be done with an oar, then you tell yourself that you can do it, too – or at least try. “Our boat had the benefit of Joe’s coaching and of seeing two great examples of what could be accomplished with an oar. “The result was a world class crew that had a great time at the ball.”2420 Lane does not stop there in his estimate of Bruce Crocco: “Bruce could have played varsity basketball or row, and fortunately he chose rowing. His form and power and sixth sense of timing were a delight. In fact, it wouldn’t surprise me if the rest of the boat was watching him instead of me most of the time. “He was and is a natural leader and was the Commodore of the Varsity Boat Club in 1955 and 1956.”2421 Talk about chemistry, fifty years later, these forever teammates still complete each other’s thoughts. Bruce Crocco: “When Guest was injured, Lane came in from the Jayvee, and the boat just clicked.”2422 2419 Crocco, op. cit 2420 Lane, op. cit. 2421 Ibid. This was not the first, nor would it be the last time in rowing history that some sort of indefinable chemistry seemed to make a boat faster . . . or slower . . . than it seemed to have any right to be. 2422 Crocco, op. cit. 2423 Betts, op. cit. 2424 Friend, personal correspondence, 2005 Indefinable extra? Betts: “In addition to Fred Lane, at least two other members of the ‘55 crew owed our presence in the boat to a fortuitous circumstance – the ‘54 Pan Am Games. “In the fall of 1954, George Hermann [‘55] and Herb Senoff were rowing the 6- and 5-seats in the potential Penn Varsity Eight. They had also qualified for the Pan American Games as members of Philadelphia’s Vesper Boat Club crew. When they went off to compete, Joe put me in at 6 and Tom Friend at 5. “To me, the boat felt fantastic, incredibly stable. We rowed together for about three weeks, and when George and Herb returned from the Games, a decision had to be made about boatings for the racing season. “Joe Burk, in his infinite wisdom and compassion, set up a match race between the Varsity and the Jayvee, to which Tom and I had been returned. “I can’t remember who stroked the two boats in that race, but I do remember that the Jayvee, for the first and only time that year, whupped the Varsity. “Tom and I were returned to the crew that became the Henley winner.”2423 Five-seat Tom Friend: “Hi Frank. As I recall, you stroked the Jayvee, and George Hermann stroked the Varsity. John Weise was with you in bow, and I was at 7. “Joe told us to row a 26 or 24, which you did. The Varsity was at 36 plus. “We had a good day.”2424 671
