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Wherley leads four-man boat to finals Associated Press PENRITH, Australia -- Selfish. Cocky. That's how Mike Wherley describes his decision to move from the U.S. men's eight crew to the four-man boat. Selfless. Altruistic. That's how others have labeled Wherley's willingness to leave the three-time world champions to join a patched-together crew in jeopardy of being the only American boat not going to Sydney. Wherley acknowledges he bailed his pals out of a jam, but he figures it was something he had to do for the good of the team. And now that both boats have made the Olympic finals, he's even more convinced it was the right choice. "I wouldn't have agreed to it if the four was a bunch of guys that hadn't made any boats go fast," Wherley said Thursday after pulling his crew into the medal race Saturday. "I have a ton of confidence in all these guys. Sure, it was selfless to an extent, but it was also selfish and cocky to some extent because I actually thought we could go out and win. I wouldn't have done it otherwise." The pair of Ted Murphy and Sebastian Bea also advanced Thursday. U.S. scullers weren't as fortunate as three entries failed to crack the top three in their semifinal heat: the doubles tandem of Mike Ferry and Henry Nuzum and soloists Don Smith and Monica Michini, both of whom were last in their semi heats. Four more U.S. crews will try advancing Friday (Thursday U.S. time). Wherley's crew was in the same heat as the British four spearheaded by Steven Redgrave, who is trying to become only the third person from any sport to win gold at five consecutive Olympics. Challenging Redgrave was one of the reasons Wherley joined the four. But he didn't have time to soak in his first head-to-head race with the great champion. The Brits finished first followed by Slovenia, then the United States. "It would've been different if we'd been watching them the whole time," said Wherley, whose crew was two lanes from Redgrave's. "It really isn't that big of a deal during the race. When you think about it before, it's pretty awesome." A spot on the four opened in May when Dave Simon hurt his back. When Wherley climbed aboard, they had 10 days to prepare for the Olympic qualifier in Lucerne, Switzerland. U.S. coach Mike Teti hoped to put Simon's name on the entry there, then make Wherley an injury replacement. Rowing federation officials refused, which meant Wherley was either in or out. He stayed and the Americans won. Simon wound up taking Wherley's seat in the eight. That crew has made the finals, but is struggling. It was second in a qualifying race and won a semifinal heat by .02 of a second. Clearly, it could use Wherley. "He was our rhythm-setter," said eight crew member Porter Collins. "We're missing a little of that right now." Still, his friends admire what he did. "When we heard Dave was injured, the handwriting was pretty much on the wall," said eight coxswain Pete Cipollone, who works in an adjoining cubicle to Wherley at an Internet company. "We were all a little nervous, then Mike got us together and said, 'This is how it's supposed to be."' Wherley is considering speaking up again. "I have thought about saying something to them before the race to help jack them up a little bit," said Wherley, a Wisconsin native living in Yardley, Pa. "But I have to stay focused on what we're doing. It's too easy to get distracted." The other guys in Wherley's boat are proven winners, although in different events. Eric Mueller won silver in the quadruple sculls in Atlanta. Jamie Koven was the '97 world-champion single sculler. Wolf Moser is a four-time national team member. "People within the rowing community respect us as a boat," Wherley said. "As a boat we may be pretty green, but the individuals have been around awhile. "I think we're peaking right now. We're getting faster all the time." |  | ALSO SEE U.S. men win qualifying heat, but not by much Eclectic American pair advance to finals | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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