THE AGE OF ENLIGHTENMENT Krmpotich’s partner, Dan Lyons: “Dave was violently ill, but we rowed the heat, the rep and the semi with him. Once we failed to make the final, Dave was carted off to the hospital, and I asked to row with the spare, Chris Clark, in the petites. Everyone thought we were crazy. As a matter of fact, Kris Korzeniowski,6467 National Technical Coordinator, almost didn’t allow it, but we went forward. “At the start of the race we were 46 off the line for the first 25 and were down by a length! We settled to 36, Clark and I hit the perfect swing, and we couldn’t move fast enough. The boat was running so fast that we almost had too much time for the recovery! “Ten strokes after the settle we were level, ten strokes after that nearly a length up, and at the 1,000 we wound up leading by twelve seconds over the 1984 Olympic Gold medalists from Romania. I remember Clark almost turning around and saying, ‘So this is World Championship rowing?’ and Ted Nash told us, ‘It looked like a perfect race from 200 gone to the finish!’ “That was the EASIEST race I ever rowed. We were over four lengths up on Romania at the finish. “Clark’s technique was very different from Krmp’s. Clark was low in the boat, and while his catch was quick and tight to the water, he rowed very ‘level’ with his body and blade. Krmp’s technique was very punchy with a magnificent sense of catch timing to the flow of the boat (something which I think is the most important element of boat moving). “I have always felt that power application is the only thing that really matters. That is why Krmp’s stroke was so effective. The timing of the power application was and is key. 6467 See Chapter 124. “Length does not always equate to speed. You can be a very long crew and be a very slow crew. While rowing with Krmp, even though the stroke was shorter, we habitually understroked other crews while going faster. “Power application at the same time and with alacrity equates to speed. But, that begins at the catch. “I’ve rarely rowed with anyone who has had such perfect pulse timing and such a beautiful feel for the run of the boat as Dave Krmpotich. “Both pairs that year were very fast, Gold Medal speed, but both were VERY different in feel, approach, and technique.”6468 Ted Nash: “Dan Lyons is an amazing artist in adaptation to whomever he rowed (and still rows) with. Clark’s catch was quick and helped Dan be light to water as well as long. “Chris Clark,6469 like Geoff Picard in 1964,6470 proves once again how valuable a great alternate can be for any team.”6471 1985 Coxed-Pair The coxed-pair of nineteen-year-old John Riley, twenty-year-old Ted Swin- ford, and coxswain Steve Shellans came in fifth in their final, and earlier were brilliant in eliminating the 1983 Silver Medal Soviet crew with a crushing third 500 which, according to Ted Nash, “shocked us all.”6472 Swinford: “I first met TED in 1983 during the IRA in Syracuse, NY. I asked about rowing on the National Team, and he 6468 Lyons, personal correspondence, 2006 6469 Chris Clark will reappear in this book as a participant in what has become known as the Oxford Mutiny. See Chapter 144. As I write this, Clark is the coach of the 2008 IRA Champion University of Wisconsin Varsity. 6470 See Chapter 85. 6471 Nash, personal correspondence, 2006 6472 Ibid. 1789
