THE ERA OF POLARIZATION “Tiff was slow in his single in 1982. We all were, compared to Biglow. I was rowing in my first big singles race, and I just assumed that the guy with open water in front was just ‘cruising’ and sitting on the field. I was just happy to finish second and be the spare.”7151 Sean Colgan, 6’2” 188cm 185lb. 84kg, is a Ted Nash-trained Penn IRA winner and loyal member of Vesper Boat Club who has the unique distinction of making U.S. Teams on port, starboard and sculling and as a junior (‘72 and ‘73), lightweight (Silver in ‘75 and Bronze in ‘76 in the eights) and heavyweight (Bronze in the 1983 Pan Ams in the singles). Colgan: “I was just a Philly guy who loved to row fast. I had been working full- time since 1978 as a travelling mineral trader. Hell, when I won the 1983 Pan Am Singles Trials, I had just 200 miles in my single. I was spending most of the time running up hotel stairs in Dubai and building a B-52 runway for the Air Force in Diego Garcia.”7152 Tiff: “Despite Sean’s memory, I don’t think I was slow in 1982. I think I was faster than in 1981, and to my mind had just started to figure something out about moving a single. I was trying to do a better job of connecting with the water at the catch, trying to make sure that I didn’t start the legs too soon. “In the heat when Sean barely lost to me, I was ahead and rowing just hard enough to win, and even though they had to go to the video, I was pretty sure I had held him off. The officials, of course, had the video pointed such that all they could see was my head going across the line, so who knows how exactly they came to their decision. Screw the Penn guy, no doubt. “I was staying at Sean’s house for the Trials, and I think we have avoided the topic.”7153 Sean: “Tiff was a good guest. Always cleaned his plate.”7154 Tiff: “I don’t know if I could have beaten Biggie in the final that year, but at the time I felt I had a better chance than in 1981, and who knows all the what-ifs?”7155 Finally, a year later things seemed to be falling into place for Tiff when he beat the injured John Biglow to win the Singles Trials in 1983. Like the Homeric hero Odysseus, Tiff Wood was on a long journey that would span two decades and three Olympics. Tied to a mast, driven half-mad by voices, Tiff will be remembered long after the rest of his era are forgotten and turned to dust. Thanks to David Halberstam, anyone who has read The Amateurs must be filled with a sense of foreboding whenever the events of Tiff’s rowing career are retold. Biglow: “1983. That’s when Tiff went over and got his Bronze Medal, and I’m so glad that he did that. I’m glad I had that off year from the single because I still feel really sad for Tiff.”7156 The Sliding-Rigger Single In 1983, Tiff won the U.S. Singles Trials and placed third in the World Championships. It would turn out to be the summit of his rowing career. It is ironic but probably not coincidental that rowing in a sliding-rigger single produced the best results in John Biglow’s entire career, before or after, in 1982,7157 and 7151 Colgan, op. cit. 7152 Ibid. 7153 Wood, personal correspondence, 2009 7154 Colgan, op. cit. 7155 Wood, op. cit. 7156 Biglow, op. cit. 7157 See Chapter 139. 1995
