THE ERA OF POLARIZATION because I retired after that, I never have really had to come to terms with it.”8062 www.nytimes.com: “The eight American rowers looked surprisingly more fit and larger than the Romanian victors, but once the gun went off, their superior brawn didn’t translate into the winning performance they expected. Why? Olympic Champion and former crew coach at Mt. Holyoke, Holly Metcalf, had some answers. “Her explanation for the crew’s poor showing in Atlanta was that they were over- trained, flat, if not exhausted. They hadn’t had enough time to recover. “Buschbacher had probably put them on the same regimen that was successful with drugged athletes from the former DDR.8063 (The main benefit of steroids is they allow the athlete to train much harder and more frequently than they could when clean.) Since the U.S. women’s crew members didn’t take drugs, the arduous training made them appear to be in great shape but had depleted their energy.”8064 Bill Zack, one of Hartmut’s assistants: “Depending on how one reads that last passage, it could imply that Hartmut knowingly participated in the performance enhancing drug program of the former DDR. To the best of my knowledge, Hartmut was not at all involved with that program, and in all the years that I have known him, he has always spoken strongly against the use of performance enhancing drugs.8065 Buschbacher: “Metcalf is incorrect by saying that Buschbacher put them on the same regime that was successful with drugged athletes in East Germany and therefore looked in great shape, but their energy was depleted, ja? 8062 Kakela, op. cit. 8063 See Chapter 119. 8064 Pat Connolly, The Journal, August 4, 1996, www.nytimes.com 8065 Zack, personal correspondence, 2010 “We medalled in 1993, 1994 and 1995 and even won in Lucerne in 1996. Her comment is not acceptable.”8066 And don’t forget the historical perspective. Beginning in 1964 with the Ratzeburg Eight, continuing in ‘68 with New Zealand, ‘72 with GDR and Ratzeburg again, ‘84 with New Zealand again, ‘88 with the American men, ‘92 with Germany and ‘96 with the American men again, the favorite, often the reigning World Champion, had come to the Olympics and failed to fulfill their promise. There is a definite pattern here, and it will turn out to continue beyond 1996 to 2000, 2004 and 2008 for men from the Netherlands, Britain, Canada and the United States. Buschbacher: “In sport, you always take the risk of failure, ja? I don’t want to take the experiences away leading up to the Olympics, which were great. We basically had one bad week out of four years preparation. Even in Lucerne we won, right before the Olympics. We came back inspired and tried to go faster than fast . . . so maybe that was a mistake. “Zo, the athletes and coaches have to be careful not to be too hard on themselves. It is what it is. They got World Championship medals. They are World Champions.”8067 Sydney Quadrennial The squad rebounded after Atlanta and began its second Olympic Quadrennial under Hartmut Buschbacher leading up to Sydney in 2000. Several members of the 1995 World Champion squad were still around: Elizabeth McCagg, Amy Fuller, Monica Tranel-Michini, Jen Dore, Laurel Korholz and Lianne Nelson, several eventually returning after long sabbaticals. 8066 Buschbacher, personal correspondence, 2011 8067 Buschbacher, personal conversation, 2011 2253