Mutiny of The Matoika - Voyage

Voyage

On the afternoon of July 26, the athletes attended a farewell reception at the Manhattan Opera House presided over by Gustavus T. Kirby, chairman of the American Olympic Committee (AOC), who read congratulatory telegrams to the team from the governors of eleven states. At the end of the reception, the 230 civilian and U.S. Army-affiliated team members marched from the Opera House to the Hudson Pier and ferried to Hoboken, New Jersey, and the waiting Matoika. (The 101 U.S. Navy-affiliated athletes and coaches were carried on cruiser USS Frederick, a frequent convoy escort of Princess Matoika during World War I.)

When female team members, AOC members, and U.S. Army athletes and officials accompanying the team were assigned first-class cabins and the balance of the male athletes were relegated to troop quarters on lower decks, grumbling from team members quartered belowdecks began almost immediately. Before the Matoika even sailed, runner Joie Ray, a competitor in the 1500 meters in 1920, complained about the conditions declaring that "if those in charge had deliberately tried to create a psychology of depression and resentment among the members of the team, they couldn't have done anything more effective". Two days after sailing, some of the first place winners at the Olympic tryouts were moved to the sick bay to escape the sweltering heat on the lower decks, but the majority remained below. Fencer Joseph B. B. Parker—who, as an Army athlete, was bunked in a cabin—commented that the troop accommodations were all right for troops but "not conducive to bringing men to the games in the pink of condition."

Training conditions aboard the ship were less than ideal throughout the voyage. Rough seas for parts of the journey hampered training and contributed to widespread seasickness. Although the long distance runners were able to practice by making multiple circuits of the ship, the sprinters and hurdlers were provided only a 70-yard (64 m) cork track—two-thirds the length of the shortest track event at the games—on which to practice. Javelins were tethered by rope and aimed by their throwers at the sea, and, when thrown, would often come down in unexpected locations. The only facility for swimmers was a canvas saltwater tank set up on the lower deck; the tank split when filled for the first time. Even after it was repaired, the best the swimmers could do was to practice strokes while tied to the corner of the tank with a rope, and divers, with no other facilities available, were allocated just a few minutes a day in the tank. Conditions on the ship contributed to several injuries to athletes. During foggy weather, American decathlete Everett Ellis fell on the slippery deck, suffering a bad sprain, and shot putter Pat McDonald sprained his thumb while tossing a medicine ball on the pitching deck.

Despite the problems encountered by some of the team, others were able to work out adequately. Fencers, wrestlers, and boxers were all able to work out in close-to-usual routines. But perhaps the most impressive training feat was a high jump by Richmond W. Landon who cleared a 5-foot-10-inch (1.78 m) high jump on the rolling deck, a jump not far off of his eventual gold-medal-winning (and Olympic record) jump of 6 feet 4.2 inches (1.935 m).