THE SUNSET OF CONIBEAR fourteen feet might have made the difference for us . . . We’ll never know.”4434 The decision was another crushing defeat for Penn, behind Harvard by just .05 seconds, “so close it took the judges seven minutes to decide the winner.”4435 Joe’s response to the team? Dolson: “‘You have nothing to be ashamed of,’ he told them in that calm vibrant voice. “‘Disappointed? Yes. You rowed a great race. Harvard did, too. It was like tossing a coin. . . Some day Pennsylvania will win one like that. Too bad you fellas weren’t the ones.’”4436 Cadwalader: “It is important to stress the respect that we had toward the Harvard crew as fellow competitors and as friends, and when they had the courage and audacity to come back on us and win the ‘68 Trials, we knew exactly what they would be capable of doing as Olympic competitors. “These were hardened warriors. How can you not fully respect any opponent who never gave up in all 200 strokes of a 2,000 meter race, even after being dramatically behind midway through, and then doggedly and with bold conviction coming back, stroke by stroke, to take the lead, once and only once in that race, at the last four inches of the last stroke in a photo finish? “Still, we play the wondering game. Suppose they had been on the recovery, and we had just planted our oars for the last stroke? “Luther H Jones had never heard of rowing before coming to Penn, so he was still learning and getting more effective by the minute. I had spent the year thrashing around and busting my knuckles in a torturous Threevee that never set up, so I had lots of room to improve, too. We have 4434 Reece, personal correspondence, 2007 4435 Sweeney, www.boathouserow.org 4436 Dolson, p. 4 always said that our eight at the Trials was still a month away from peaking. Was that a factor? “Earlier in the summer, there had been a momentary thought of adding Joe Amlong, the 1964 Gold Medal rower from Vesper next door, who was chaffing to get into a fast boat. We swapped him in a few times, and Amlong’s personality gave us a great boost, but he had neither style compatibility nor the necessary conditioning. Our cohesiveness was already set, so Joe Burk decided to stick with our faster all-Penn stock, and we were very glad he did. “But one wonders. Same questions. So many years later. Gnawing doubt . . . “But Harvard won the race, and we knew what it took for them to beat our brilliant and amazing Penn boat.”4437 Penn’s Olympic Coxed-Four Ted Nash: “After the Eights Trials, Joe immediately turned to me and said ‘Ted, you are the small-boats specialist here. Why not take this crew and make boats for the next set of trials?’ “Joe wouldn’t take no and went out west to begin building a retirement home in Troy, Montana, with the intent of moving there in a few more years. He shook my hand and simply said, ‘I’ll see you in the fall.’ “That he would hand me his crew was a shock, but his gesture has stayed with me forever.”4438 Jones: “Following the race was another decision. We met in Joe’s hotel room. He commended us on the race and congratulated Harvard. He said that although the eight was not going to the Olympics, there would be an additional chance to go in one of the small boats. It was an individual decision for each of us. 4437 Cadwalader, op. cit. 4438 Nash, personal conversation, 2004 1223
