 In 1963, my breakman and I, Bob Huscher, were on a recruiting trip up in northern New York State, just out of Lake Placid, New York, in a little town called Sarnac Lake. After a full day of recruiting at one of the schools in that area, we found ourselves checking into our hotel, the same hotel we always stayed at. And as we entered the hotel lobby, we heard quite a bit of noise and carrying on in the cocktail lounge. We found that we had some 30 Air Force types that were in the city to do some bobsledding in the Lake Placid area. And one thing led to another and finally got ourselves introduced and the like. And I met the gentleman who was heading up their group. At that time, Major General Perry Hoisinton. In conversation, the general indicated to me that it would be a great thing to get another branch of the military involved in the sport of bobsledding. And at the time being a JG, I turned to the general and I said, well, general, where do we get started? And he said, well, he says, Lieutenant, he said, how about the top of the hill the more morning? So a cheery eye eye. And that's pretty much the way we get started. In 1965, less than two years after his chance meeting with General Perry Hoisinton, Paul Lamy was selected to ride as number three man on a civilian sled out of Saranac Lake during the world championships at San Maritz. Later that same year, the first Navy two man made his appearance on the ice at Lake Placid. The driver and captain of the team was Paul Lamy. And his breakman was his recruiting partner, Bob Hussher. A dream had become a reality. And the sport the old timers call the champagne of thrills had a brand new competitor, the blue and gold. Had of a densely wooded mountain called Mount Van Hoevenburg, some experts have called it the fastest and safest bobsled run in the entire world. Now this may be open to some debate, but one other fact is true. While there are several courses in Europe, Mount Van Hoevenburg is the only bobsled run in the entire Western hemisphere. A factor that has favored the more traveled and experienced European teams and frustrated more than a generation of Americans trying to compete in the sport. Two of the most prestigious events of the sledding season at Lake Placid are the National AAU and North American Championships for two and four men's sleds. The North American being strictly a Canadian and American of there, and normally the last race of the season. What do you think of the North American Championship? Well, it's one of our most important races of the year. Everyone likes to win all the races they can. This one's a little bit more important than most of them because we have two countries involved, you know, Canada and the United States. I think it's a good idea. It's a good chance for North Americans to get together. It's also good it picks the teams for the World Cup next year. It means the closing of the season, which is kind of a disappointment because it's usually the last race and everybody really puts their heart into it and it means a lot to every competitor and we're gonna try and win it. Oh, I think there are great opportunity for us to develop our own teams, both in Canada and the States and also to provide some competition here. It isn't that easy to develop people with only one run in North America, but racing's the name of the game and you have to get it wherever you can. Starting with their twin victories in the national AAU and North American races in 1967, the team of Lamey and Husser amassed an amazing string of seven straight wins in both events over the same number of years. Now, during the first week of March, 1974, less than a month after winning the national for the eighth consecutive time, they were back at Lake Placid looking for that last victory. The other half of the twin kill, making it eight double wins in a row. Who do you think are your toughest competitors here? I think of the two men. Number one would be a Navy, Paul Lamey. We consistently have a better start time than Paul and Bob, but Paul's been driving here for seven years and he knows the track really well. There's Paul Lamey from the Navy, Jimmy Morgan from Saranac Lake, Colin Nelson from Canada. All of these, these fellas are real good fighters. Colin Nelson and Hans Gehrig from Canada and Paul Lamey from the American navies. I think of the three top right now and the two men and it could be any one of them, I think we'll take it. Well, I think our toughest competitors probably will be Colin Nelson from Ottawa, Paul Lamey from the Navy. Jim Hickey from the Air Force and probably Mike Hullrock from Lake Placid. Now Paul Lamey Navy hasn't been driving the Foreman this year, practice very much. So we don't know much about Paul or how he'll be driving the Foreman. Well, I just have to wait until Sunday to see how that sort of worked itself out. This year, I believe we're going to win it because well, I guess we just got what it takes. We're just going to go up there and take it from the hill. I think probably the most important thing that a good driver needs to have is real good quick reflexes. If you don't have good reflexes in a sport like barbsledding, you're just not going to cut the muster. You've got to be able to get yourself in and out of trouble very, very quickly. I've had people tell me that I've gone into the sequence of turns called zigzag in every configuration that you can get into excepting backwards and upside down. And my goodness, some of those have been my best trips through that corner, come out nice and clean. And the only way you can do that is to be able to just take the situation as it confronts you or is laid out to you right at the moment when it happens, if you're banging off the left wall or the right wall, going into the turn improperly, you have to adapt to the situation and drive that corner. You haven't got much time to think about it. It's a matter of doing it and reacting right away. So reflexes truly are probably one of the greatest assets a barbsled driver can have. In barbsledding, speed is the name of the game. Its risks are as inherent as they are visible and its dangers are inbred. Few men participate in the sport either in this country or on the continent. Consequently, most of them know each other very well and most of them, long ago, determined just what it is that gets the really good ones to the top. Good ones like Bob Husser, the lead breakman of the Navy's two and four man squads. My estimation, Bob Husser is probably the finest, most knowledgeable breakman on that barbsled run here at Mount Van Hovemberg. Bob, through years and years of experience of working with me, has blended very, very nicely with me so that we are truly a unit. Bob and I are not always getting the fastest starts on the hill, but our starts are good enough to make them extremely competitive and then comes in the knowledge, experience, and the feel for being a good breakman that Bob has and he helps me down the hill very, very much. There are many times where we may be getting off the turn a little bit late, Bob knows exactly what to do on the back of that sled to keep us right side up. Many people ask, what is the job of the breakman? Well, sometimes it could be easy if you just define it as getting the sled off the top of the mountain and then when it gets down to the bottom, stopping it. This may be true, but there's a lot that happens in between. I think there has to be a continuity between the driver and the breakman and that breakman must be aware every moment where he is on that track because when something happens, it'll happen fast. On an off day or when time permits, the team goes out on the Lake Plancid Ice to work on fast starts and push-ups. The belief being that the fast start is 50% of the race. An understood part of the Navy's success equation has always revolved around one word, practice, constant practice. With both the two and four man sleds, the start is very important. The difference between winning and losing can sometimes be just one one hundredth of a second. If a team gets off the top of the hill, 30 one hundredths of a second faster than anyone else in the field and that team does it each of the four runs, you're cutting almost two seconds off everyone else's time. Next sled on the line, the four man racing team in the United States Navy. Paul Lamy driving, Bill Renton, Dennis Sprinkle and Bob Husher on the brakes. Clear the track to the mile. Left one's loose. All the people on the run, the wide cambrows, please do not use flashballs. Look out at the corner. Yeah. Yeah. Bobby, one, two, three, this side. Fire! The men that are picked to be members of the United States Navy Bobsled team are our gents that are really in top physical condition. I have turned to organizations that have that kind of quality and physical fitness in their men, particular the Navy SEAL team. I have three members of the team, of the six members on the team, three of them are SEALs. Billy Renton, presently assigned to SEAL team two at the Naval Amphibious Base in Little Creek, Virginia. Bill has been riding as number two man on the four man sled and this year he's received his license as a two man bobsled driver. Dennis Sprinkle, also with the Navy SEAL team. He's big and he's versatile. Not only a fine breakman, Sprinkle has the natural ability of getting the sled off the top as quickly as anyone in the business. His teammates are convinced he'll wind up becoming one of the best drivers as well. Billy Colson, a bobsled veteran of five years and another SEAL team member. Colson is this year's and last year's number two driver. He was a member of the 1972 Olympic team and a member of the 1971 world bobsled team at Chavinia, Italy. And finally, Fred Fritch, new to the team this year, but like the others, not new to underwater demolition. Fritch is break man on the two man sled and has ridden the number two and number three positions on the four man sled. Another facet of the Navy team's winning formula is sled preparation and a place to do it. We're quite particular with our equipment. Unlike most of the other teams, I guess we're fortunate in having a place to work on our equipment. Our equipment has got to be available to us at any time. If we feel like going down to the garage and working after dinner, it's nice to have our equipment right here with us, not out at the bobsled run, which is 11 miles away. The search for imperfections in the sled shack, like a loose connection, a nick in a runner, or a sign of metal fatigue also has other benefits. It creates a spree, a feeling of togetherness toward a common goal, an emotional edge for that certain tomorrow when it all has to come together. March 2nd, 1974. Race day, the North American two man sled championship. By the end of the third heat, the Navy two man was leading the field, but their margin was precariously slim. Another American team headed by Wade Whitney of Keen Valley, New York, was just over a hundredth of a second off the pace. So on this last time down the hill, Lamy and Hussher both knew that it had to go perfectly. There was no margin for error, not if they wanted it all. With 10 or 15 sleds, there's a lot of waiting. And a lot of waiting means a lot of thinking. You're listening to everyone else's times. In particular, you're listening to those times that you think are the times of those people that are your true competitors. Next sled on the line, a two man racing team, in the United States Navy, Paul Lamy driving, Bob Hussher on the brakes. Clear the track to the mile. The track is clear. Okay, Billy, thank you. Is that all right, buddy? It was good. Here we go. One, two, three, this time. Hey, hey, hey! It was over. Eight straight wins in both the national and North American races in eight years. Now just ahead was Trivina Italy and the world championships. Followed by the International at Innsbruck. A good showing in both would probably mean an invitation to the 76 Winter Olympics, the third straight Olympic tour. But victory for the Navy in the North American foreman wasn't to be. Against 13 other entrants, the blue and gold would miss a third place showing by only four one hundredths of a second. But it had been a good season. And there was always next year, next year. Maybe then they'd have nine double wins in a row. The traditional Navy of Obsolete team toast to our two new drivers today. Lots of success to both of you and continued success to the Navy team. Here. All right.