Summary
In Germany, the Nazi party was erasing all of the antisemitic evidence in the streets and all of the signs that Germany was now under the control of an authoritarian government. On board the Manhattan, Don Hume and Roger Morris fell ill, but Joe felt great. He explored the boat and made his way to the first-class, where he was not technically allowed to be. Eventually Morris got over his sea sickness and the team roamed the boat together. They ate plentiful servings and enjoyed running laps around the boat when Ulbrickson wasn't looking. One noteworthy story from the boat was that of Eleanor Holm, who was 22 years old and a minor celebrity, as well as the favorite for winning the hundred-meter backstroke in Berlin. She was caught drinking excessively twice and was proclaimed an alcoholic. Ultimately, she was removed from the swimming team, much to the outrage of her fellow athletes.
When it was time to disembark, the American athletes were met with a parade full of people waving Olympic, Nazi, and some American flags. The boys were transported to their accommodations near the rowing course; they were housed in a drafty but modern police academy. When it was time to take the Husky Clipper on the Langer See for the first tie, a photographer who had crawled underneath for a photograph stood up too abruptly and ripped a thin crack in the hull. Pocock repaired it, but it meant the Americans lost out on valuable practice time. When they finally got on the water, they were disappointing—there was a lot of work to do and a lot of weight to burn off.
They continued to row poorly, and Don Hume continued to get sicker. He was eventually too sick to row and was replaced by Don Coy. The boys were unfamiliar with his stroke, and Coy had not rowed in the stroke seat, further complicating things. Meanwhile, the Washington coaching staff observed the competition. One team that was of interest was the Australians, who had tried to row in England's Grand Challenge Cup at the Henley Royal Regatta, but were informed that they were not allowed because the rules of the regatta "prohibited the participation of anyone 'who is or has been by trade or employment for wages a mechanic, artisan, or labourer'" (313). They were considered to have an unfair advantage over those who had sedentary occupations. It came time for the Opening Ceremony, which was unlike anything the world had ever seen. Ultimately, it accomplished its propaganda mission of distracting from ongoing atrocities. "Johnny White said, 'It gave you a grand feeling.' And that was precisely what it had been carefully crafted to do—give you a grand feeling. It had begun the process of determining the world's opinion about the new Germany. It had hung out a sign for all to see: 'Welcome to the Third Reich. We are not what they say we are'" (319).
The Americans continued to train poorly and Hume remained sick. Everyone became tense as the race day approached. Their tension and poor performance drew them closer, and things began to improve as they spoke with one another honestly about their anxieties. With Hume back in the stroke, things improved dramatically and a British reporter called them "the finest eight here." The preliminary heat to win a spot in the gold medal race and a day off came down to the British and Americans vying for first. Both held manageable stroke counts before pushing it at the end, and the Americans rowed harder than they had ever rowed. They won the race and Hume collapsed at the end, not waking up until Moch splashed water on his face for nearly a minute.
Germany, Italy, Switzerland, Hungary, and Great Britain qualified along with the Americans for the medal race, but Ulbrickson was horrified when he heard the lane assignments. Great Britain and America were assigned lanes five and six, respectively, which were the two most exposed lanes and were the hardest lanes to row in. This was the inverse of what was expected, as they were the boats with the fastest qualifying times. Even worse, Germany and Italy were assigned lanes one and two, the most protected lanes with the biggest advantage. Come race day, Hume was nearly too sick to row. Ulbrickson had actually ruled him out for the race, but the rest of the boat insisted that he be the stroke. It was a windy day and the chop was bad for the Americans and British in lanes five and six. Even worse, neither coxswain heard the starter call the start, and both boats sat motionless at the start of the race while the other four took off.
The Americans had to start fast to try to remain in contention, and they rowed harder than they intended to. Even worse, Hume had turned white and closed his eyes. While he was still rowing, Moch couldn't tell if Hume knew what he was doing or if he would even be able to finish the race in his condition. The weather remained punishing for the Americans on the outer lane, and they slowly fell back behind the leaders. In an insanely close race that took everything each member had, the Americans won by a fraction of a second. For extended moments during the race, Hume was unresponsive because of his illness. At the end, one boat member was dizzy from the exertion. None of them had experienced pain like that in a boat before, but they had won and their grimaces turned to smiles.
After the race, all of the boys but Joe went out to celebrate. Joe stayed in, staring at his medal. He knew he had given everything for the effort and trusted his teammates completely. For the first time, he finally felt whole. He knew he could return to Washington and begin the rest of his life.
Analysis
Germany's primary goal in hosting the Olympics is to create a "movie set" that will convince foreigners there is no need for intervention, despite the ongoing detention (and eventual killing of) Germany's Jewish population. It is a global propaganda campaign and it is successful. When Avery Brundage, the American Olympic Committee chair, sees the reception from the Germans when the Americans arrive, he declares, "No nation since ancient Greece has captured the true Olympic spirit as has Germany." In reality, it is as contradictory to the Olympic spirit as it could possibly be.
The Henley Regatta's prohibition of labourers is another example of classism within the sport of rowing. It is deemed that it gave them an "unfair advantage," but it's more likely that the club wants to prevent those of a lower social class from participating because of elitist beliefs.
The themes of teamwork and vulnerability resurge in this section. While the Washington boys have been rowing poorly, their poor performance forces them to be honest with one another about their fears and anxieties in a way that they haven't been before. This allows them to support one another in new ways and rise to the occasion. Just as Pocock told Joe earlier in the season, the boat needs every boy to trust one another completely and give themselves completely to the boat. That's the only way that they will be able to consistently find their swing. It rings true again as Washington gets their rhythm back.
It is suspect for Germany and Italy to be assigned lanes one and two, especially because Germany is the host country and Italy is its closest international ally. At this time, Italy is ruled by Mussolini, another fascist leader, and they support the goals of the Nazi party. The geopolitical alliance and ideological difference between Germany/Italy and Great Britain/America makes the line assignments especially questionable. It looks as if Germany is trying to rig the race in their favor and have either the Germans or Italians win with less genuine competition from the faster boats.
At the beginning of their freshmen year, Bolles tells the boys that they will experience great things if they give themselves to the sport—things they cannot yet imagine. It is true. Joe, who has been abandoned at multiple times throughout his whole life and has to fight tooth and nail for his survival, does not trust easily. Over the course of his crew career with Washington, however, he realizes that he has to give himself up to the boat and be vulnerable with his teammates if he is ever going to reach his potential. At the conclusion of the gold medal race, he realizes,
He could finally abandon all doubt, trust absolutely without reservation that he and the boy in front of him and the boys behind him would all do precisely what they needed to do at precisely the instant they needed to do it. He had known in that instant that there could be no hesitation, no shred of indecision. He had had no choice but to throw himself into each stroke as if he were throwing himself off of a cliff into a void, with unquestioned faith that the others would be there to save him from catching the whole weight of the shell on his blade. And he had done it. Over and over, forty-four times per minute, he had hurled himself blindly into his future, not just believing but knowing that the other boys would be there for him, all of them, moment by precious moment. In the white-hot emotional furnace of those final meters at Grunau, Joe and the boys had finally forged the prize they had sought all season, the prize he had sought nearly all his life. Now he felt whole. He was ready to go home. (355)
