Sailors Call on Athletic Pasts to Succeed : America 3: Many of Koch’s crew have background in other sports.

So Bill Koch sprang for a gym to keep his crew ship-shape. He should be so lucky. Had he supplied them with the toys of their former sports endeavors, the financial bad dream he’s in would now be his worst nightmare.

When America 3 faces off against Il Moro di Venezia today with a 3-1 lead in the America’s Cup final, the Americans bring a cacophony of sporting talent to the starting line.

This camp has football, hockey and baseball players, gymnasts, swimmers, wrestlers, skiers, and sailors, too. Whether they’ve played in the minor or major leagues, pee-wee or pro football, or regional up through national competitions, crew members can draw nuggets of wisdom from the experiences of the guy working next to him.

“It’s a pretty important factor,” said pitman Wally Henry, who played college baseball at Adelphi University. “We’ve all been in the pressure spot before. We’ve all been in sports where we’ve been the one at the plate when we needed a hit, when we had to make that pass, or score that goal. It all helps you keep your head in the game.”

All heads on deck--at least those within reaching distance--were in the game when grinder Pete Fennelly of New Jersey caught his ankle in a jib sheet, a line that controls the sail, during a gennaker take down Thursday. In the true spirit of a team sport, Fennelly and the boat came out of the incident unscathed. He couldn’t have done it alone.

“You can feel the confidence on the boat. Like yesterday, no one panicked,” sewerman John Spence said of the teamwork.

Spence, an offensive lineman in college, paralleled his position on the gridiron to his workplace on the yacht. They are thankless jobs--neither has brought him fame nor glory--but they have given him a tremendous amount of self satisfaction.

“I love being in the trenches,” said the Jacksonville, Fla., native. “No one ever sees you or takes your picture, and reporters don’t talk to you after the game, but I like that.”

A diverse sports background has physical as well as mental merits for the syndicate. Fennelly, who limbered up playing football at the University of Rhode Island, said bendability bought him more time during his balancing act on the side of the boat.

“I’m pretty flexible, so I was able to hang there. I could bend my foot back pretty far,” he said.

Sailors at this level have practically bent over backward to change the perception that they are less fit than athletes in more traditional sports. Although it has tapered off since the trials began, America 3 ‘s workout regimen was no walk in the park.

Grinder John Hufnagel of Los Angeles said Cup sailors are no more like weekend sailors than Jose Canseco is like the power hitter on your local softball team.

“On some levels, that feeling is legitimate,” said Hufnagel, who never carried his track and soccer careers past high school. “But when it comes to racing, it’s an athletic event. It’s a physically demanding sport, and the different backgrounds we have add another dimension to our skills.”

Said Rick Brent, an All-American college wrestler and an all-around state champion in high school gymnastics: “Sure it comes into play. It makes you look at all kinds of angles. I may look at something, and someone else may look at the same thing, but we’ll have different opinions on how to solve it. We have choices.”

Given a choice, Henry said his teammates would agree that the finals of the America’s Cup is “probably the greatest thing they’ve ever achieved in sports.” But that doesn’t make their athletic achievements of years gone by are any less meaningful.

“Even in Little League, the biggest moment of the game is still the biggest moment of the game,” he said. “It never leaves you. You can definitely compare it to this. It’s a bonus to look back and say, ‘Hey, I’ve been in a corner before. I’ve pulled out of it before, and I can do it now.’ ”

Having competed in many national and state championships, Brent knows what an emotional rush playing for the ultimate prize can be. He acknowledged that, “there is a lot of passion in this,” but added that none of the Cubens are cashing in on it, yet.

“When we beat Dennis (Conner),” he said, “everyone was so pumped up. But the minute we hit the dock, there was a new project.”

That project won’t be complete until A3 wins one more race. Until then, the compound in keeping a tight lid on the kind of excitement that would seem logical with a two-race lead.

“The pressure’s not off until we cross the finish line ahead of Italy one more time,” Brent said. “I plan on being around a long time to savor (a victory), so I can suppress it a while longer.”