THE SUNSET OF CONIBEAR “‘The Admirals,’ as that Olympic- winning crew was called, clocked 5:52.2.”4420 In coming second to Harvard at the Sprints, Penn had clocked 5:57.9, cutting the margin to 3.4 seconds, less than a length. But still it was another convincing loss with the outcome never in doubt from the Crimson standpoint. Steve Brooks, Harvard 3-seat: “I recall it being all of a length, perhaps even a bit of open water, but that may be just the passage of time.”4421 Fritz Hobbs, Harvard 4-seat: “It sure felt like at least a length, but certainly closer than the Adams Cup . . . and not nearly as close as the Trials!!”4422 Indeed, it would all come down to the Olympic Trials. The rest of the season, a 2,000 meter IRA sweep for Penn, a sweep of Yale in New London for Harvard, was just marking time until the rivalry would reconvene five weeks later in Long Beach. Personnel Changes Luther Jones: “[After the loss to Harvard at the Sprints], Joe Burk modified his (in)famous selection scheme by exchanging two members of the Varsity boat picked by statistics with two members from the Junior Varsity. Moving into the Varsity were Nick LaMotte [‘68] and Bob Urban [‘70]. “Tony Martin [‘69], who had rowed most of the year in the Jayvee boat, also made the Varsity just three days before the IRA. “[After my Freshman crew had won in Syracuse], Ted asked me to come see him. I 4420 William N. Wallace, Harvard is First in Eastern Sprints, The New York Times, May 12, 1968 4421 S. Brooks, personal correspondence, 2007 4422 F. Hobbs, personal correspondence, 2007 didn’t know what for, but I always did what Ted said. He told me that Joe Burk wanted to talk with me after the varsity race. Sure, I’d do that. “Joe and I chatted. Rather, Joe talked, and I listened. He asked me to row with the Varsity to prepare for the Olympic Trials that were to be held in Long Beach, California. “Holy Crap! “I was shocked. I couldn’t tell anyone till he announced it later, but of course I accepted. “I soon said goodbye to my Freshman Crew, and it felt surreal. We had been together for nine months. We had been through hell on the water. We had succeeded at a higher level than any of us could have expected, and now we were no longer. My eyes were teary at the thought. “But I was going back to Philadelphia to try to get on the Olympic team!”4423 At that same point, Gardner Cadwalader, the King of Clubs, 1967 Pan Am Coxed-Pair Champion was also invited into the first boat from his seat in the Threevee. Cadwalader: “What a year! Once the 1968 regular college season was finished with the IRA Regatta in Syracuse, I was added to the Varsity Eight along with the legendary Luther H Jones from Blackfoot, Idaho, who was promoted from the freshman boat. “The H is just an H, not even a period after it. His dad liked the shape H, and that just begins to describe one more of Penn’s wonderfully unique and talented athletes. “Nick LaMotte and Phil McKinley, the two Penn Varsity oarsmen who were bumped from the IRA boat in favor of Luther and me, have always been noble and unsung heroes for their subsequent behavior when we got to go on to the big Trials. 4423 Jones, unpublished memoir, 2006 1217
