THE WINDS OF CHANGE Two years later, Read’s 1960 Eight was the only boat capable of challenging Ratzeburger Ruderclub2456 on Lago di Albano, leading the final briefly with 300 meters to go2457 before being relegated to the Olympic Silver Medal position. McKerlich: “My summary regarding the comment Essener Stadtnachrichten, 23 Juli 1955 Canadian Eight in the 1960 Olympics was that we rowed well, but the German crew was faster on Saturday, September 3, 1960 on Lake Albano. “Our race went as planned. Our stroke- man showed great judgment with the stroke he set. We did not ‘shorten up’ our stroke or ‘wash out’ in the sprint. We ‘rowed ourselves out’ to the extent that if we had to take a few more strokes past the finish line we would have physically broken down. I have no regrets about our racing on Lake Albano, except for the obvious one that we came second.”2458 Postscript Frank Read passed away in 1994.2459 His crews have kept in touch for more than half a century. They sadly report that three members of the 1955 crew, Carl Ogawa, Phil Kuebler and Bill Hughes, have now joined their coach. Hamburg The week following Henley in 1955, the Grand Challenge Cup Champion Penn Eight 2456 See Chapter 92. 2457 according to The New York Times. See Chapter 90. Films and the recollection of the Germans suggest otherwise. 2458 McKerlich, op. cit. 2459 www.library.ubc.ca/archives “The ‘Penn’-Eight during and after their pre-race training” “OK, boys, we’re in top shape!” traveled to Germany for the 65th Annual Hamburger Internationale Ruder- Regatta, the same regatta in which the 1951 Penn lightweights had participated four years earlier. The top event for eights was the Schiffartsachter, a traditional race for a cup donated by the Hamburg shipping industry, and in the race Penn defeated Rudergesellschaft Hansa Hamburg, “Germany’s outstanding eight.”2460 “Hansa took the lead at the start and held it to 1,400 meters. Penn then steadily pulled ahead and left the exhausted Germans behind without increasing its stroke beat.”2461 Hans-Heinrich Busse: “The Pennsyl- vania Eight beat my club, RG ‘Hansa,’ which at that time was one of the strongest German crews. Spectators were always fascinated with the American rowing style.”2462 The following day on the same course, they won the Senatsachter, the cup having been donated by the city government of Hamburg. Local press described the Penn crew as “der schnellster Achter der Welt.2463”2464 2460 Ford, p. 15 2461 Associated Press, July 9, 1955 2462 Busse, personal correspondence, 2010 2463 “the fastest eight in the world.” 2464 Hamburger Zeitung, July 9, 1955 683
