THE SUNSET OF CONIBEAR Medal. The Harvard Eight came in sixth. It was a bittersweet day. “In 1968, they already had drug testing, and each of us drew marbles from a jar. John Hartigan was asked to perform a urine test. He was the only one of us who would not have benefited from performance- enhancing drugs or blood doping, but he gladly performed his obligatory ‘pee in this bottle.’ We laughed about it, and he passed the test. “The rest of the Olympics just went by. I saw a few events, namely fencing and track and field (I saw Fosbury win!). All of the other ‘athlete’ tickets were already picked clean by the coaches and an endless supply of managers, hangers-on and wives of hangers-on.”4456 Jones’ Penn Freshman teammate Rick Crooker was also in Mexico City. Crooker: “At the end of the 1968 college season, I returned to St. Catharines. We subsequently won the U.S. and Canadian National Championships and the Canadian Olympic Trials, but like many, our performance in Mexico fell well below what I believe our potential was – illness that resulted in our losing our 6-man, and everyone going through ‘Montezuma’s Revenge’ left us well out of the running.”4457 Closing Ceremonies Jones: “The plan was for just flag carriers to represent their countries in the Closing Ceremonies. The rest of the teams were to sit in the bleachers and spectate. As the stadium filled and the flags were all in, a strange thing happened. We all broke ranks and strolled, jogged, ran, skipped out to the center of the stadium with the other teams 4456 Jones, op. cit. 4457 Crooker, personal correspondence, 2007 Luther would indeed fulfill his vow, but that 1968 Penn Coxed-Four, selected a month after the Harvard Eight, turned out to be the very last collegiate crew ever chosen to represent the United States in Olympic competition. The great Conibear Era had ended after producing eight Olympic Eights Gold Medals,4459 two more in the coxed- pairs and in the coxless-pairs with one each in the coxed-fours and coxless-fours, not to mention a few Silvers and Bronzes. As will be discussed in Chapter 129, Luther Jones would return to the Olympics in 1972. John Hartigan would go on to cox the 1974 World Champion Lightweight Eight and the 1975 Pan Am Champion Heavyweight Eight. The others never represented their country after Mexico City. Tony Martin has now passed away. 1969 Penn Season Jones: “After Mexico City, it was back to Penn and Joe Burk’s point system. I went 4458 Jones, op. cit. 4459 nine when you count the 1964 Gold Medalists from Vesper Boat Club, a composite crew with a core of American college graduates who could trace their roots back to mainstream American rowing. singing, hugging, and cheering, my only open act of defiance in Mexico City. “At the end, they flashed a sign on the stadium scoreboard. ‘Hasta München,’ or in English, ‘Until Munich.’ “At that moment I dedicated myself to return to the Olympics in Munich in four years time.”4458 1233
