At the 1984 Olympics, the United States rowing team— for the first time in nearly 30 years— had a serious chance to win an Olympic medal in the single sculls. Four genuine challengers emerged for the opportunity to represent the U.S. They competed fiercely in a sport that held no promise of financial reward. What drove these men to endure a physical pain known to no other sport?
Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist David Halberstam focuses on these four competitors— Tiff Wood, John Biglow, Brad Lewis, and Joe Bouscaren— in the single sculls trials in Princeton. While one man will win and gain the right to represent the United States in the Olympiad, the losers will have to live with the bitter knowledge that they were not the best, only close to it.