a challenge, with a long delay due to wind that was affecting different lanes with varying intensity. The West German crew, the 1968 Olympic champions, had a more sheltered lane and overtook the New Zealand crew at half-way point when the boat was hit by a gust of wind. Robertson, the coach, was livid about the conditions they had to row in, and he decided to knock the other teams' confidence through some mind games. It was announced to the media that the New Zealanders would do some 500 metre sprints on the regatta course. It worked, and between 50 and 60 people with stop watches turned up to measure the performance. Robertson explained his strategy in his usual straightforward manner: The rowers themselves played their own game. Their apartment in the Olympic Village was near the entrance and other teams had to walk past. The New Zealanders were on a one-can-of-beer-a-day ration and timed drinking those when others teams went past, stacking the empties, and—in typical New Zealand fashion—they went around the village barefoot. The German media soon wrote about the partying New Zealanders, and this evoked a discussion in West Germany how it could be possible for those larrikins to "beat our boys?" The final was rowed on 2 September; an hour earlier, the New Zealand coxless four had won silver. The New Zealand eight dominated its race to the extent that the interesting part was who would take silver and bronze. Four countries battled for the lower medals: East Germany, West Germany, the USA and the Soviet Union. In the end, it came to a photo finish, with the United States declared silver medallist, 0.06 seconds ahead of East Germany. For the New Zealanders, everybody was in sync. Veldman later commented that he had had harder races at club level; it was like having "created a big flywheel". Some of the team later said that their 1971 gold medal win was the "finer display" of their skill. The outgoing IOC president, Brundage, was not scheduled to present the medals but insisted on doing so. And the most memorable moment was yet to come – the crew standing on the victory dais overcome with emotion and "bawling like babies" is one of New Zealand's most memorable sporting moments. The occasion was made more poignant by "God Defend New Zealand" being played rather than the traditional "God Save the