THE SPORT OF ROWING In addition, Al Shealy’s personality was less able to assert itself in the boat as it had in 1974. Shealy: “Personally, in 1975, my collegiate season was a long one, ending with four very intense and draining races at Nottingham and Henley.5255 Although I didn’t really realize it and felt as if I was attacking the workouts at the camp with the same verve as in ‘74, I know now that my season at Harvard had really taken its physical toll. To come down off a season like that, retrain myself at a different pace and technique and peak again in such a short amount of time was extremely difficult.”5256 Rosenberg: “In 1975, Parker continued to occlude the National Team effort by prolonging the Harvard season, thereby keeping key rowers from training in my practices. As a result, they were burned out before we began. “As it worked out, with the Pan American Games at altitude in Mexico City5257 and the need to train there for a month before races began, the mood in the camp was grim.”5258 Shealy: “The time factor was critical, and you can’t expect to beat East Germany and the Russians with only five weeks of preparation, especially after having come off intense collegiate preparation training and the grind of selection, although some will say it was pre-conceived selection. For others in the boat, I think they were equally ‘burned out’ by the enervating June and July racing and the hazards of rushed preparation for the Worlds.”5259 Dave Weinberg, 1974-1976 coxswain: “We quickly learned that the rowing community owed us nothing for our 1974 performance and also that we were foolish 5255 See Chapter 104. 5256 Shealy, p. 40 5257 They won. 5258 Rosenberg, personal correspondence, 2007 5259 Shealy, p. 40 to expect that any sort of awe or submission would compensate for lack of preparation.”5260 Shealy: “Basking in glory alone won’t win races. It takes much more hunger and much more effort to prepare for a repeat victory, especially when there are six volatile crews in the final that are essentially equal in potential.”5261 1975 World Championships Before the race in Nottingham, Rosenberg evaluated the field: “The Russians are quick. They know that New Zealand will go like hell for the first 1,000. The Russians will try to stay with them. The East Germans are the boat that can threaten us. They have frightening consistency. They’ll test us all the way down the course: in the first 500, again in the second and in the last 250. They’ll come again and again . . . ”5262 Weinberg characterized 1975 as a disaster for the entire U.S. men’s team. “Of eight heavyweight entries, only two qualified for the finals, both finishing fifth. A Silver Medal Sculler5263 failed to qualify for the final, a Gold Medal Eight with seven returning oarsmen finished fifth. The Coxed-Four, sixth in 1974, finished tenth.”5264 Weinberg recounted the qualifying heat for the eights: “A quick New Zealand blitzed the field, leaving our eight fully three seconds back at the 500 meter mark. The rest of the race was lackluster. With NZ in command and moving away, a surprised U.S. Eight cruised through the middle thousand, finishing an astonishing third behind New Zealand and the Czechs. The 5260 Weinberg, p. 17 5261 Shealy, p. 40 5262 Rosenberg, qtd. by Weinberg, p. 17 5263 Jim Dietz. See Chapter 131. 5264 Weinberg, p. 16 1450
