THE ERA OF POLARIZATION there were no athletes with outstanding physiques, but their motivation, willingness to work hard and commitment were outstanding. Training at high level was new to Fred Honebein. He had good athletic ability and reached a high performance level by Atlanta which would have brought him success in later years had he continued rowing, as it did to Jamie Koven who won in the single the following year. Fred was an athlete of this caliber.”7811 Klepacki: “One particular day in San Diego sticks in my mind. I forget how far the eight had just rowed, but it was a five minute piece. Mike said, ‘How was that?’ “No one said a word, but we all knew it was subpar. “Finally Mike asked Jon Brown, ‘Jon, how was that piece?’ and Jon replied something along the lines that it was okay, not great, not our best. “‘What was the matter? Why wasn’t it your best?’ No one answered. “Finally Jon said, ‘Well, it felt a little hurried at the end of the stroke.’ “Mike said, ‘The finish? Okay, let’s focus on the finish.’ He had everyone sit at the finish position in the boat, and he drove around our shell in his launch probably five or six times. He didn’t say a word. This probably took ten or twelve minutes. “‘Okay,’ he said, ‘here’s what I want you to do. Jon Brown, I want you to move your footstretchers one click to the stern.’ “So our coxswain, Steve Segaloff, passed the tool back. Jon takes his time, undoing his footstretchers, moving them one click forward. “‘Okay, sit at the finish again.’ “Couple more laps around the boat. “‘Okay, turn around. Five minute piece back the other way.’ “We take off, and sure enough we have a lightning-fast piece. We get to the other 7811 Spracklen, op. cit. end, and he asks, ‘How’d that piece feel? It looked a lot better.’ “Notice he planted the seed, and we were all sitting there going, ‘Yeah, that was a much better piece. What a good job! Nice turnaround, guys!’ “When you step back and analyze what he did, he made a change that was maybe one centimeter, but the psychological impact of making the change, doing another piece and suggesting that it looked better changed the whole attitude of the group. “‘Oh, my God! That was so much better!’ “He brought everybody right back into the workout. What could have been a negative spiral was completely turned around. That was a day I’ll never forget.”7812 Spracklen: “The positions in which the oarsmen sit in the boat at the finish of the stroke are ideally the same. One oarsman out of place can have negative effect on a crew. “I would not drive my coaching boat completely round a crew to check these positions, but I would shunt backwards and forwards to observe the angles on the oars relative to the water, and to each other at the finish position. One stretcher position out of place can affect the crew, and moving Jon Brown’s feet by one centimeter gave him sufficient comfort to row more efficiently, which, especially as he was in a key position in the 6-seat, helped the crew. “It is very interesting to read the accounts of what USA athletes remember about those four years and their interpretation of certain incidents and situations. Memories are influenced by the emotions of winning or losing, and they mellow with time or become exaggerated.”7813 7812 Klepacki, op. cit. 7813 Spracklen, op. cit. 2177
