THE SPORT OF ROWING 141. American Iliad 1984 Singles Trials – Sculling Camp – Lucerne Biglow: “After the quad in ‘83, Harry and I figured out that I should go back out to Seattle and row in a double because it didn’t hurt my back so much. I started rowing with Paul Enquist, and we spent the winter working out and running stairs, and it was great! “Paul is a great friend.”7210 Enquist: “The stairs were near John’s home, 192 stairs, very steep with only a three-foot landing in the middle. The first time I did them with him I was only able to do one flight running. I managed to finish ten by running, then walking and then crawling to the top. My legs were jello for the next week. This was in early January. “By mid April, two days before leaving Seattle for Boston, we both did 20 flights, two at a time.”7211 While in Seattle, John and Paul again got help from Frank Cunningham.7212 Enquist: “It is interesting to read about the weakness in John’s legs due to his back condition. I know we adjusted our 1984 winter workouts to accommodate his needs. “When we trained in the double, I was the timer, so I know the long pieces were six minutes on, three off, up to ten or twelve cycles. The quality of the rowing became very good doing this method. “It is interesting to note that Kris Korzeniowski7213 had told us we were 7210 Biglow, personal conversation, 2008 7211 Enquist, op. cit., 2010 7212 Halberstam, p. 159 7213 See Chapter 124. wasting our time training that way, but later after both our results from the 1984 Games, he had his sweep rowers doing some of our workouts the following year.”7214 Bill Purdy: “During the fall of 1983, I trained at Harvard. We had fewer organized rows with Harry and trained as a group mostly by ourselves in singles and doubles. I raced at the Head of the Charles in the championship doubles with Charlie Altekruse. We won and set a course record.”7215 The Harvard boathouse had been the informal center of U.S. men’s sculling since the spring of 1983, when Harry Parker accepted the position of Olympic men’s sculling coach. A group made up mostly of Yale and Harvard graduates coalesced there around Harry, and for those athletes whose personal lives prevented them from relocating to Cambridge for a year, there developed a sense that they were outsiders. Harry’s personality and coaching style did not discourage this mindset. All this was evident during the two- week camp in Tampa, Florida in January, 1984. Jim Dietz: “NO boats were rigged properly. The doubles were in a range from 155cm to 162cm spreads with varying [oarlock angles and distances] through the pin. The oarsmen themselves agreed upon and rigged these boats after the first week. 7214 Enquist, op. cit., 2008 7215 Purdy, op. cit. 2014
