Pemex also looks south with envy at the deep-water prowess of Brazil's Petrobras, another state-controlled but more entrepreneurial firm.
There were some smiles as fellow pilots offered remembrances of flying with the two men, and of Captain Thompson's proclivity for describing the soccer and water polo prowess of his two children and Officer Tansky's penchant for stock tips.
More unexpected, but no less celebrated, was Swaran Singh Virk's win in the first round of the single sculls rowing, India never having shown any prowess in water sports until now.
He invoked Israel's democracy, judiciary, women's rights, gay rights, water recycling and technological prowess.
While Petrobras is heavily into the deep-water business, its technical prowess at ferreting out hydrocarbons trapped in the ocean is world class.
He'd spent years struggling to dazzle his Mandarin tutors while excelling in obscure sports, trying (not too successfully) to impress admissions officers with S.A.T. prowess and water-purification work in Zambia, sweating to wow his bosses with not overlong PowerPoints.
Syrian swimmer Yusra Mardini's journey to the Olympics is unquestionably inspiring – director Siri Bunford reminds viewers that this is the young woman who used her prowess in the water to rescue a dinghy full of refugees.
The USA, however, has won the most medals in total, with 59. Norway, Spain, Denmark, France and Sweden are next on the all-time medals table, confirming Europe's traditional prowess on the water.
"I wish I were farty again," the lady ahead of me said, apparently referencing the physical prowess of the water-toting deliverer.
Still, it failed to demonstrate prowess at navigating rough waters.
We are the suckers, the rubes, the marks seeking safe thrills and some trophy attesting to our prowess with a mallet or water pistol.
