THE ERA OF POLARIZATION perfect world, they would pick not the fastest entrant on the particular day but the strongest candidate for the coming World or Olympic competition, weeks or months away. At the 1956 Olympic Eights Trials in the days before seeded heats, this rationale was used by the overwhelming majority of participating coaches, the very best in America at the time, to justify open manipulation of the lane draws after the fact.7239 Today seeding, a form of manipulation, is common in international sport, including rowing. Every time equipment breakage has impacted a trials outcome, strong arguments have been made to set aside the results and rerun the trial. It need not be mentioned that all this represents a slippery slope towards institutionalizing bias and pre-determined outcomes, and so in recent decades most sports in the United States that make use of selection trials, including rowing, have made their procedures and their results absolute. However, the 1984 Singles Trials were even more problematic in that they were used not just to select the Olympic Single Sculler but also as a prelude to the Double/Quad Camp by a head coach who had been working with many of the athletes involved for more than a year and seemed already to have begun the coming selection process in his mind. There is little question that Harry Parker had an agenda when he injected himself into the semi-final results and into the lane assignments in the final of the Singles Trials, but that agenda was to collect information he believed would help him in his job as Olympic Sculling Coach. One of the great strengths of selection trials is that they allow the outsider to prove himself. Unfortunately and inevitably, manipulation of trials works against 7239 See Chapter 68. 7240 Dietz, op. cit. 7241 Kathryn Reith, Men’s Olympic Single Sculling Trials, Rowing U.S.A., June/July 1984, p. 38 7242 Qtd. by Reith, op. cit. 7243 Lewis, op. cit., p. 22 outsiders, and there were many outsiders in 1984, including Jim Dietz. Dietz: “Harry set aside procedures several times to get the results that he wanted. I don’t think there was even an attempt on his part to cover up his desired outcomes. He knew, as did everyone else, that he would do what he felt was best, regardless of the rules. “I have come away from 1984 dedicated to making any coaching decision (and life decisions) as fair and honest as I can for all involved. No one should be prejudged. “All the scullers in ‘84 gave it their best and deserved an open and fair environment to demonstrate their ability. Today’s selection criteria and Rules of Rowing are in place for just these reasons.”7240 The Singles Trials Final Rowing U.S.A.: “The final was another classic race, a tactical duel to the finish. Tiff had a slight lead off the start, but he settled back into the pack. “At 1,000 meters, Bouscaren had a length lead with Colgan a half-length ahead of Biglow, Dietz, Wood and Lewis. Only two to three feet separated third through sixth.”7241 Wood: “I remember looking over and saying to myself, ‘Wait a second. I’m not even ahead of Brad!’”7242 So far, only Montesi in seventh had fallen off the pace. Lewis: “At the half-way mark, I took three deep breaths, sucking heavy on the air. Then I began to lean on it. I caught Joe Bouscaren in 20 strokes, and I was in first place.”7243 2021
