THE ERA OF POLARIZATION Russia in Lane 6 first, Germany in Lane 5 second, the U.S. in Lane 3 third, the Dutch in Lane 4 fourth, the British in Lane 1 fifth, and the Romanians in Lane 2 sixth. As the crews reached the center of the lake and the windward shoreline no longer provided shelter, the lanes seemed to even out, and the Russians started to fade, surrendering first place to the Germans by the 1,000. At this point the Americans were only a deck down in third. Russia disappeared from the top ranks in the third 500 as Germany pulled out to a half length lead and Netherlands overtook the Americans for second. With 250 to go and the water again favoring the Lane 6 side of the course, Germany gained two-thirds of a length over the Dutch, who had four seats on the U.S. As the echelon strongly reasserted itself late in the race, only Russia in fourth failed to cross the finish line in proper lane order. Hall: “The outcome in Finland was unfortunate and not indicative of the ability of the ‘95 Eight. We lost the final in horrible conditions, but we had dominated the Germans in the heat with relative ease. I think no one was even winded at the end of that piece!”7826 1996 Spracklen: “By the winter of 1995/6 with Atlanta fast approaching, the number training on Otay Lake had grown to nearly forty heavyweights, which added enormous psychological pressure to the group. For most of the athletes, the expectations they had of themselves making the eight were high, but there were eight seats only, and those who showed signs of not achieving their goal felt pressure which put further pressure on the coach and the whole group. It was a time when I looked for leadership from within. Fred Honebein and Jamie 7826 Hall, op. cit. Koven were the team’s leading athletes to whom I looked to set example to the others.”7827 Honebein: “You could just tell that there was a different air about the training and about what was going on in ‘96, and it became very stressful for all involved. “I will never forget the fall of ‘95. The camp was going to start early, but in the meantime we all had these agendas of where we wanted to be and what we wanted to do. Steve Segaloff was trying to get a boat together for the Head of the Charles, and I was training down in Chattanooga with the women’s team, trying to spend time with my then girlfriend Annie7828 because I knew I wasn’t going to see her very much once we got into camp. “Mike called me up, and he lit into me . . . and not just me. He lit into a lot of people during that period. “He started questioning my integrity. He started questioning my desire to win a Gold Medal at the Olympics. How could I be so selfish leading up to the Head of the Charles with this big push that we were making? “I fired right back, and we got into it over the phone. I was pissed, as were a lot of guys who got similar phone calls. There was probably a good six week period after I got to camp when I didn’t talk to him. I just didn’t want to. I was so pissed about what he had said and how he was accusing me of not being 100% immersed in the success of the team. “It was hurtful, but it definitely made me push harder, and I think that was the ultimate goal. I think now with hindsight that he was just trying to push buttons, and I think he saw this as a good opportunity for him to set the stage for ‘96. 7827 Spracklen, op. cit. 7828 Annie Kakela, now Honebein’s wife. See Chapter 153. 2181
