THE AGE OF ENLIGHTENMENT activity, sending us back on the water in less than two minutes. “Whether it was rigging or training, Ted’s drive kept everyone focused on the goal. In 1988, we arrived in Lucerne to find that our boats hadn’t. Ted’s plan was to work out the jet lag with a run around the Rotsee. This didn’t sound too bad. We envisioned a leisurely, flat run around the edge of the lake. Unknown to us were the many cow fences, streams, jagged rocks and other natural barriers surrounding the lake. “Ted set the early pace until we got to the first fence. All of a sudden, Ted bolted up a steep, mountainous hill. At first we laughed until we realized he was serious. He wasn’t coming back. “It was a good quarter-mile climb before we could get around the first fence. It soon became a race and a guess as to which trail, culvert or fence to follow. Doubling back became common. We did eventually pass Ted, who was twenty to thirty years our senior. “One of my favorite memories is coming around the last turn of the lake by the grandstand. I can still picture Tom Bohrer taking a shortcut across the slippery top of the rock dam below the finish line. The dichotomy of a large person like Tom trying to move quickly and at the same time not slip into the water was hilarious. “The most consistent asset on the oarsman side of Penn A.C. has been without question Tom Bohrer. His physical strength, athleticism and humble personal demeanor made him more than just the common denominator for the club’s amazing run of success into the early ‘90s. Not too many people have two Olympic Silver Medals. “From the first day he came to the club, Tom was moving forward. I was doing some weights, and he asked if he could join in. He jumped into the thick of workouts and was pushing people right from the start. At first, it wasn’t apparent on the water, as he was learning the finer points of the rowing stroke. “With his strong land work ethic, you could see that he would not be held back for long. Tom and Mark Berkner surprised everyone by winning the 1987 Straight-Pairs Trials. This was a fantastic feat in what is considered the most difficult of sweep events to master. They had to defeat members of the 1986 World Champion Penn A.C. Straight-Four and future members of the 1987 World Champion Eight. “The next year he was in the Olympic Silver Medal Four. The rest is history.”6565 Jeff McLaughlin: “Ted’s legacy at Penn A.C. is phenomenal. His ability to take athletes of all different shapes and sizes and backgrounds and pull them together in a club system against many, many odds and a nationalized rowing system still amazes me today. He was able to adapt, and one of the things that I was lucky to experience was all the different ways onto a National Team: through the club system, through a Trials system and through an invited guest-system. “It continues to amaze me that Ted, the consummate club rower and coach, is able to feed into the U.S. National Team so well.”6566 Nash: “All in all, I have had an absolutely wonderful life in rowing. I met the world’s very best people and was coached by great teachers. From high school crews in Seattle, the women’s crews, World and Olympic elites, FISA winners, masters – all rowers are real people, honest, tough, generous and loyal to a fault. “Rowers don’t quit. They stay the course, no subs, no timeouts . . . brave every one! They give up a lot to live the life.”6567 6565 Krmpotich, op. cit. 6566 McLaughlin, personal conversation, 2007 6567 Nash, personal correspondence, 2010 1819
