When Natan Zaidenweber collects his thoughts moments before the starter’s pistol at the 2005 Maccabiah Games triathlon, one sentence will repeatedly pulse through his skull:
“Don’t finish last.”
The Mexican-born San Franciscan laughs when he reveals his race objective.
“Well, I certainly don’t want to be the last one. To be honest, I don’t have any expectations of winning a medal. At all. But for me, the most important thing is to be there, finish and wear the Mexican flag with pride,” said the 36-year-old high-tech worker.
Incidentally, the Maccabiah triathletes will have to complete a 1.2-mile swim, a 25-mile bike ride and then run six miles under the sweltering Israeli sun. “Piece of cake,” deadpans Zaidenweber.
“I used to swim in Mexico, and whenever there was a Maccabiah Games, the Jewish Community Center would send a team of swimmers to Israel. I never went to the games while I was on the team; they’re every four years and it didn’t work out for me. But I always kept that goal.”
Zaidenweber will join more than 50 local athletes who will compete at the 17th annual Maccabiah Games in Israel from Monday, July 11, to Thursday, July 21. Roughly 800 Americans are among the 7,000 Jewish athletes hailing from 65 countries around the world. (Information is available at www.maccabiusa.com)
While Zaidenweber is fulfilling a childhood goal, his friend and fellow triathlete, Steven Lurie, is doing his part to maintain a family tradition.
The South African-born Lurie’s grandmother, Sylvia Dyne, competed in the 1957 games in lawn bowling; Lurie tabs her “probably the greatest female lawn bowler who ever lived.” While not much of a bowler himself, Lurie qualified for the U.S. triathlon squad.
“It’s something I always wanted to do,” said the 39-year-old high-tech worker, who got involved in the Maccabiah Games after running marathons and competing in triathlons to raise money for leukemia research.
While at the games, he aims to “be part of a great event and carry on a family tradition, to just contribute to the spirit of the games.”
And, while he’s there, he’ll even catch a friend’s wedding.
While a number of Maccabiah athletes are happy just to be a part of the event and give it their all, Joel Drescher has got a gold medal on his mind. And why not? As a rugby player he’ll take a beating whether he wins or loses, so he figures he might as well win this thing.
The 6-foot-1, 190-pound 30-year-old carries a unique rugby pedigree, having given blood for both Stanford and U.C. Berkeley. As an undergrad at Stanford, he was a member of the 1996 squad that snapped the Golden Bears’ 98-game winning streak against American opponents.
Later, while simultaneously earning law and business degrees at Berkeley, he founded the graduate rugby squad, which has competed in
the annual World MBA Championships and joined the local Norcal league.
“I want to win gold. I think everyone on this team is on the same page. Rugby is such a physical sport, and our coach [Stu Krohn] is a big, physical, aggressive, hands-on kind of coach, so I think the moment we meet up in New York for our training camp, it’ll be clear that there’s a job to do, first and foremost, and that job is to bring home the gold,” said Drescher, a San Franciscan hailing from Ashland, Ore., who qualified for the U.S. squad despite playing with a broken hand during trials last summer in Chicago.
“But I’m also hoping to have some sort of a spiritual experience. I’ve never been to Israel before, and I’m hoping to feel that connection.”
Drescher estimates that, in his many years of rugby, he’s only rubbed shoulders with two or three other Jews, so it’s unique to be on an all-Jewish team.
Unlike the world scene, in which American rugby squads are annihilated by powerhouses such as Australia, New Zealand and England, the U.S. Maccabiah squad is a championship contender. It brought home gold in 1997 and silver in 2001, though only three teams competed in ’01 and attendance was spotty all-around during the height of the intifada.
This year’s rugby field includes Australia, South Africa, Israel, Canada, Great Britain, Argentina and more. And scouting the opposition is more complex than in Drescher’s collegiate days, when you could “drive across the bridge and peek through the fence at Berkeley and learn their set plays.”
While it’s Drescher’s first Maccabiah Games, Bob Sockolov predicts this will be his last.
The 75-year-old San Franciscan won bronze and gold in the ’85 and ’89 contests, and is prospecting for gold again in the “Grand Masters” tennis division.
“I don’t know what the ‘grand’ and what the ‘master’ mean. It means ‘old guys,'” he jokes.
“For me, the opening ceremony is the most exciting part of the trip. You march in like the Olympics opening. You’re representing your country, and it’s nice.”