THE SPORT OF ROWING had known how fast we were, they would have beaten us for the World Championship in Nottingham! But they didn’t know because we never showed it to them until the final. We got them in our heat, and fortunately we had them in our semi-final. In both races we got off quickly, measured them, watched for the first move and then let them go by towards the end of the second 500. In the final it would be different. “We were using the secret of keeping all of our cards hidden. Only we knew how good we really were.”6478 In the final, the Penn A.C. boat led from the starting command, was briefly challenged by the Czechs after 500 meters but maintained a half-length lead at the 1,000. During the second half of the race, West Germany gradually began reeling the Americans in. Espeseth: “We had our moves set. Everything was preplanned, and the only option that we had in the whole regatta was in the final. Danny Lyons, who was calling all the moves, could start the sprint at 600 meters to go, but it would definitely start at 500 meters to go. And he did start it at 600 because we knew the West Germans were coming.”6479 Penn A.C. had only a deck-length lead with 250 meters to go but held on to win by a single meter at the line. Nash: “For a number of reasons, the final was not our best race, but it was the 6478 Espeseth, op. cit. 6479 Ibid. FISA 1986 Video 1986 Men’s Coxless-Fours Final Holme Pierrepont 1 USA 6:03.53, 2 RFA 6:03.63, 3 RDA 6:06.25, 4 CAN 6:06.33, 5 ITA 6:08.43, 6 TCH 6:08.80 most exciting. John Riley had hurt his knee playing hacky sack with the Canadian women and couldn’t row for two days.”6480 Lyons: “I had contracted walking pneumonia right before the semi, and I was much worse for the final. Basically, the first stroke felt like we had already gone 500 meters. Despite that, and despite the fact that the final was probably our worst race of the regatta, the other guys in the crew, Espe, Riley and Swinford, did an unbelievable job making sure we won that race. “It was sheer ferocious determination. Had I been healthy, I don’t think the race would have been that close.”6481 Nash: “It may not have been pretty, but it was twenty-six years since the USA had 6480 Nash, op. cit. 6481 Ibid. 1792
