THE SPORT OF ROWING and we caught two crabs. We never got into the swing that we had come to know so well with Espe, and even with Jim in practice, and wound up losing by six seconds “Espe did not return until about five days before the second set of Trials. He was still wearing his protective chest brace, and the boat never got into any kind of a swing, though we looked the same as always unless we were in a tailwind. (The reason did not become clear until later in the summer.) “We were all desperately looking for the timing and the quickness, but we could not find an answer. So, we just pulled harder, which is never a solution. “At the second set of Trials against Krmpotich’s Four, we led by a few feet at the half way (2:56 to the 1,000), but we were doing it strictly on power, and frankly, we did not have the power of the other four. They went through us shortly thereafter, and we lost by six seconds again.”6514 Krmpotich: “The Penn A.C. ‘B’ Boat led both Olympic Trials races by the first 500 meter mark, as the tapes of the Trials demonstrate.”6515 Riley: “I’m not too comfortable with the ‘us vs. them’ thing between Krmp’s boat and ours. Unlike any camp, where everyone is out to ‘make the team,’ we were a team. Penn A.C.! “We had our moments. I know we were faster when healthy . . . and so did they, but that is not relevant to the story. The story shouldn’t be ‘us versus them.’ The Killer Bs won the Trials and raced great in Seoul . . . period!”6516 Lyons: “Afterwards, Espe and I went to the camp while Riley and Swinford got back in the pair, went to the Henley Royal Regatta and won the Silver Goblets. 6514 Lyons, op. cit. 6515 Krmpotich, op. cit. 6516 Riley, personal correspondence, 2010 “At the Camp, Espe was beaten by everyone, until the last day, and he had already been told he was going to be cut after a July 4th inter-camp race between the six fours at the camp. “They randomly picked the lineups, and I wound up rowing behind Espe in a four. We won easily. The boat felt wonderful, and in that moment Espe and I realized what had happened when he was injured. “Basically, as a result of his rib injuries, he was protecting the ribs by opening the back early in lieu of driving the legs against the back. Because of that, there was no leg explosion off of the catch, which is why it felt better in the strong tailwind. He had quickness, but without the explosion. “When a stroke’s legs are not firing, there is no pulse to the boat, and there is pretty much nothing anyone behind him can do about it. Once Espe remembered his legs, he was back to his old self. “Unfortunately, that happened too late for us. Earlier in the summer, during the five days leading up to the second set of Trials, not even Ted knew the problem in the four or how to correct it. “It’s possible that with Espe’s six-week layoff, he would have been incapable of driving the legs like he would have needed to in order to beat the Bs. Having said that, with Espe healthy we were easily the fastest four in the country.”6517 Nash: “I can’t ever say that Dan’s Four, if healthy, would have beaten the Killer Bs, nor the other way around. It is certainly possible that if the ‘86 boat had not had the back and rib injuries and had not lost those special Trials to the Kennelly boat, they might have become a strong and terrific four again, faster than in earlier years. One thing for sure – I deeply respect each member of both boats.”6518 6517 Lyons, op. cit. 6518 Nash, op. cit. 1800
