THE SPORT OF ROWING together.2352 Afterwards, Bruce approached Frye for the traditional, and by then well- practiced, shirt bet pay-off. Crocco: “This time, Wayne took off his racing shirt, not a souvenir shirt, the racing shirt right off his back, and gave it to me. I’ll never forget it. “I still have that shirt in my bottom drawer.” This from a man who the very next year would be a member of a Penn crew which would tour Europe undefeated and be declared the world’s fastest crew.2353 Fifty years later, he still holds precious the Navy shirt he never won but only received as a gift. Thanks to this book, the two men have reconnected. Murph: “At the Nationals back in 1951 at Marietta, I was sick the day of the finals, and Rusty replaced me with Phil Bayne at 6 in the Plebe boat, another former ‘White Hat.’2354 “You know the result of that race, which had nothing to do with me being in or out of the boat. The only curious thing is that I might be one of the very few people in the world who has ever rowed four years of collegiate rowing and never rowed in a losing shell. “I cannot ever tell you how much this means to me. “I also can’t tell you exactly how I feel about these other guys. Words fail me. They are more than my brothers to me and always will be.”2355 2352 A week after the regatta, Navy was disqualified for using a coxswain who had already graduated from college before entering the Academy. Second-place Cornell was declared the official winner, but they responded that they still considered themselves second in 1954 to the Great Eight. 2353 See Chapter 65. 2354 enlisted man. 2355 Murphy, op. cit. That was not quite the end of the story of this great Navy crew. In 1956, Time Magazine published a story entitled Four Years from Olympus: “Thin shadows slanted across the late afternoon, streaking the slate-grey waters of the Severn. On the Annapolis shore, spectators took a long second look at the river. Was the haze-dimmed sun playing tricks, or was that an extra shell rowing out to the starting line for the annual Navy- Princeton Varsity crew race? “To sharp eyes, the Olympic insignia, five interlocked circles stenciled on the shell’s bow explained the interloper’s presence. The ‘Admirals,’ Navy’s 1952 champions, were back in competition, tuning up to try for a second Olympic title. “Officially, the Olympians were not even in the race. On the record books, wherever they finished, they would not ‘win.’ “But after two months of practice, they bent to their sweeps with the same determination that had won 29 straight victories for the Navy – including the Olympics – before the last of them earned their commissions and spread out into various odd channels (five in the U.S. Air Force) from Biloxi to Hong Kong. “Together again, the Admirals were working out an answer to a tough question: Could they recollect their old skill and stamina in time? “Four years away from the heady 1952 Olympic triumph at Meilahti Gulf, Finland, the fine rhythm and rugged power of champions were not easy to rebuild. “On a previous try, the Naval Academy had failed: the 1920 Olympic crew was reassembled from stations in the fleet and put into training for the 1924 games, but lost to Yale in the Olympic Trials by five feet!2356 2356 See Chapter 52. 654
