Tag: olympics

Video of the Week

Video of the Week: USA Women’s 8+ win gold in 1984

By

Only eight years after women’s rowing was introduced as a sport in the Olympics, the United States women won the gold in Los Angeles at the ’84 games.

Some of the names you might recognize include…

  • 2-seat: Holly Metcalfe, Head Women’s Coach at MIT
  • 3-seat: Carol Bower, Head Coach at Bryn Mawr
  • 4-seat: Carie Graves, recently-retired after 15 years as the head coach (and founder) of the University of Texas’s rowing program
  • Stroke: Kathy Keeler, wife of Harry Parker and at the time of the race, head coach at Smith College

You’ll notice that, as Bob Ernst mentioned in the beginning, women only raced 1000m in international competition (pretty sure the original reason for that was because women were fragile creatures who couldn’t handle the demands of rowing 2000m – no, seriously…). In 1988 though that was changed and female crews began rowing the standard 2000m.

AND, as a bonus fun fact, the next time you watch “Good Will Hunting” and someone asks “I wonder if the person sculling is a real rower or an actor”, you can casually say “Oh, that’s Jeanne Flanagan, 5-seat in the women’s eight that won gold in 1984.”

Racing Video of the Week

Video of the Week: Assault on Lake Casitas

By

Steve Gladstone really isn’t kidding when he says they start slow and build towards the finish. Around 4:00 in the video it looks like Belgium has a maybe a seat of open water on the entire field but you can see from that point on where the Americans slowly start walking through the field. With 250m to go, the rest is history.

Related: Books on rowing, pt. 2

The end is actually pretty interesting when the two announcers discuss how they challenged the national team coach’s chosen double and beat them for the chance to represent the USA in the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics. You gotta admit, that’s pretty damn impressive.

College Quotes Racing Rowing Training & Nutrition Video of the Week

Video of the Week: Yale Men’s 8+ at the 1956 Melbourne Olympics

By

Wouldn’t it be cool if collegiate crews still represented the USA at international regattas like this? This video talks about Yale’s eight that competed in Melbourne and the tough competition they faced, mainly in the Australian crew, on their way to winning the gold medal over 2nd place Canada and 3rd place Australia.

There were a couple things I took from this video but the biggest one is what is said at 6:20 – “he has the phenomenal ability to pace himself so that the last stroke he has to row is the last stroke he can row”. Ponder that thought the next time you’re on the water or on the erg. Condition your body so that the last stroke you have to row is the last stroke you can row.

College Coxing Q&A

Question of the Day

By

There are many excellent coxswains, especially at the D1 level. But what do you think separates an Olympic level coxswain from the many excellent D1 varsity coxswains?

I agree, there are a lot of excellent D1 coxswains. I think one thing that separates them is nothing more than a desire to go to that next level. Some coxswains/athletes want to push themselves harder and compete at the elite level and some are content finishing out their college careers and moving on to grad school, jobs, life, etc. Pursuing the Olympic team requires a lot of sacrifice, physically (obviously), emotionally, socially, financially, etc. so it takes a certain kind of personality and mentality I think to commit oneself to that.

The other thing, just in terms of skill, how well you’re able to execute the basics (i.e. managing practice, executing a race strategy, etc.) is another thing that separates the two. Obviously the top collegiate coxswains are great at this but if you look at trying out for the Olympic team as “leveling up”, the coxswains that are doing that are just so on point with everything they do. Their focus is even more lasered in, their execution is even more precise, etc.

Racing Rowing Teammates & Coaches Training & Nutrition

Blood in the Water

By

I don’t know when or how I stumbled on this article but it’s a great one. It was published in 1999 and briefly chronicles the selection process of Mike Teti’s heavyweight 8+ for the ’99 world championships and the 2000 Olympic team.

As the thin fog lifts over the pine trees and off the lake, Teti begins today’s practice session with his version of a pep talk. “For the past two weeks, I’ve been really flexible with your work hours,” he announces, his voice scratchy from weeks of shouting through a bullhorn. His face is tan and windburned from 18 years of flying up and down narrow channels of water with a clock in his hand. “I’ve been really flexible with your relationships. I have been really flexible with your academics. Well, I’m through being flexible. I’m going to the World Championships to win. Anyone who requires maintenance, you are not welcome here. I will provide the coaching, the equipment, and the expertise to those who want to go to the Olympic Games and win a fucking gold medal. Anything that gets in the way of that, I’m gonna run it the fuck over. Some of you guys are severely on the bubble, and most of you here will not make the Olympic Team.”

And this one…

“I don’t have all fucking day!” Teti screams. “Line up.”

And this one…

Teti never simply shouts, “Pull!” He yells things such as, “Pull like you’re the biggest, baddest motherfucker in a bar, and everybody in the bar knows it!”

Coxswains, remember that one – you never know when it might come in handy.

Video of the Week

Video of the Week: Gold Fever

By

This video is from a BBC documentary series called “Gold Fever”. It was filmed over the course of the four years leading up to the Sydney Olympics in 2000. Steve Redgrave, Matthew Pinsent, Tim Foster, and James Cracknell all had personal video cameras that they used to record video diaries during those four years. You see Steve dealing with his diabetes diagnosis, Tim dealing with all his surgeries and the possibility of not making the final lineup, and many other things.

One of the things I love most about this series is how intensely they take the sport but also how vulnerable they are to the same things that HS and collegiate athletes are vulnerable to. These guys hate getting up in the morning just as much as we do sometimes, but they still get up and do what needs to be done. The way they attack those erg pieces and just fall off the ergs in exhaustion afterwards…that’s dedication.

In the end, the four ended up winning the gold and Steve Redgrave won his FIFTH straight Olympic gold medal.

Q&A

Question of the Day

By

Is going to the Olympics ever too big of a goal?

There’s no such thing as “too big of a goal”. I know that sounds cliche and stupid, but there really isn’t. It gives you something to strive for and depending on your situation, can be the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel. If that’s your goal, go for it. Be realistic about it obviously (can’t stress that enough) but don’t count it out. It’s not going to be easy and but don’t let anybody tell you it’s stupid or out of reach or never going to happen. If you put in the time and work you can make it happen.