Olympic Side Lights
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Title
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Olympic Side Lights
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Date
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July 1936
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volume
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1
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issue
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15
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page start
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2
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page end
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2
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content
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en
OLYMPIC SIDE LIGHTS
Regular workouts featured the trip on board the MANHATTAN…They began at 9 with individual half-hour lessons for each team member----Johnny Huffman, who was injured by a broken blade a few days before sailing, was not permitted to handle a weapon until the arrival in Berlin — he worked on footwork, though.----The fencing team, newspaper reports to the contrary, was perfectly behaved, except for the one instance when some of the fellows visited friends in first class and were late in returning to their cabins----Please do not ask us about the Eleanor Holm Jarrett incident! Of course, you know that Joanna de Tuscan was voted the most beautiful girl on the Olympic teams----We wanted to have George Santelli voted the most handsome man, but when the Committee ruled that coaches were ineligible, we seriously championed the cause of Charlie Leonard, our pentathlon star.----Your editor and Edith Martindale won the dance contest… by virtue of a judicious combination of applause between the swimmers, hockey men and fencers, not to mention the yeoman efforts of Mrs. Fieber, who was on the jury----”Al” Hermannson, the well-known Chicago professional who was with the fencing team as trainer, won the chess championship----We regret to state, however, that our bridge wizards, Jacob and Highheimer had a bit of difficulty handling the basketball players.----Our venerable technical adviser and Andy Boyd had a little contest of their own…for the attentions of 17-year-old Mavis Freeman… “Mike” seemed to have the edge, but he used unfair tactics when he bribed the dining room steward to rifle the icebox for a bouquet of flowers…which the little lady proceeded to present to her chaperon.----Norman Armitage walked away with the eating championship, as expected----Dorothy Locke defeated our best men at ping-pong----Marion Lloyd displayed hidden talents as a comedian with George Santelli on amateur night.----Howard Hanway ran the first party on board----The pentathlon and fencing teams occupied Freiberg Haus, No. 103 in the village... which commanded the best view of the beautiful grounds... credit for this goes to Mr. Leon M. Schoonmaker, who in addition to his duties as chairman of the fencing committee, was appointed head of the housing committee for the United States----The reception of the team in Hamburg and Berlin was truly royal... there were many speeches we could not understand, and we are still trying to figure out what we ought to do with the mythical keys to those cities----The Olympic uniform was always a handy thing to have whenever an excursion into Berlin was in order... it had a certain magical charm----The opening day ceremonies were most impressive, but until the last moment we did not know what would be the official salute----The fencing quarters in the Reichsportfeld were not wholly completed when the team arrived, but they were ready on time----Practice was held frequently in two rooms of the Hindenberg Haus in the Village... the same place where the evening entertainments were given----Our Army officers had their day, drilling the team for the parade on the last day of the trip----In case you are interested, the tallest men were Jose de Capriles, Frank Highheimer, and Miguel de Capriles in that order----Sands, Heiss and Dieck, who will be remembered as fine swordsmen, drilled the entire American team at Olympic Village----and you'd be surprised at the excellent results Gus Heiss can get out of a squad in his soft, indolent way.
