Speed 5 with Matt Imes USA High Performance Director

[lt.wolf]

Posted

[lt.wolf]

Matt Imes
Director of High Performance
US ROWING

WOLF- So what is the plan going forward for the USA men's team with the relocation to San Deigo , will Mercer only serve as NSR and Trial course now ?

IMES- Mercer and Princeton will remain the base of operations for the Women’s training center and the USRowing offices. NSR's and Trials will continue to be run at Mercer.

With the men consolidating to California, USRowing wants make sure that we are doing what can to place our athletes and staff in the best position possible to be successful in London. With the Men being centered in Chula VIsta we are able to consolidate and provide resources in one location for them.

Princeton University, the Princeton community, and the PNRA have been a great partners with us for a long time and remain so. With 80 plus athletes training in Princeton full time plus the additional numbers that come in for camps and identification, our ability to provide services such as sports medicine, convenient water time, strength training access, equipment and such was stretched to its limits. With the men’s relocation to San DIego we believe that both the Men's and Women's programs will benefit by having easier access to these things.

WOLF- What does the HPC use as a guideline in determining how a coach is fulfilling their role with the USA National Team and does Tim or the HPC have a replacement in interim coach in mind as his replacement ?

IMES-There is ongoing dialog concerning all of our programs and how well they meet the anticipated goals. While staffing decisions ultimately belong to the CEO, input is taken from many stakeholders both internal and external, including athletes, coaches, the HPC and the Board.

WOLF- You have taken a lot of heat as the HPC director , why do you think this happens? Do you feel you serve the athlete or the committee first ?

IMES-The US system has a lot of components and each one would like to see things done in some different ways. Bringing these components together takes compromises and doesn't satisfy everyones goals all the time. In the end everyone wants to see the programs be successful, when they are not there will always be people who have strong opinions as to what to do and who or what is to blame.

Our goal is to provide the athletes with the best possible means to be successful. The difficult thing is the limited resources we have to do this with. The USOC, the HPC, the NRF, the USRowing Board and the athletes and staff all have a part in the process. I try to make sure that I serve all as they need be. I believe we (USRowing) could always do a better job of communicating this process with the athletes and we'll continue to try and improve this.

WOLF- The women's team is in a great position right now , what will it take to bring the men's team to that level ?

IMES-Tom and his staff and athletes have done a great job of building the program to where it is. Enough credit can't be given to the athletes who have trained and competed with them the last 7-8 years. The colligate system and coaches have been really supportive of Tom's system and allowed for this to grow.

The Men's program is evolving and where we are reflects a the shift in our priority to try and prioritize some different boat classes the last couple of years, not just the eight. This years team made strides from last year and our goal has always been production for the Games in 2012. We have a really good mixture of young talent coming up on the team and guys from the last quad cycle that is mixing into what we believe will be a competitive squad in 2012.


WOLF-Would US rowing not be better served by devoting some resources and time to recognizing exceptional current and future talent in non camp boats and providing direction and input to these people. People like Campbell, Madamma and Grobler, rather than leaving them to their own efforts and hoping they suc

IMES-USRowing has in the past and will continue to support athletes both inside the camp system and outside of it. With that said, there are limited resources to work with, if we are diverting funding and support to project “a” then its coming at the expense of project “b”. We prioritize and evaluate on a regular basis and try to be as fair as possible in the process of allocating resources.



Extra One - Extra One -

Wolf-How many medals do you see the USA team wining in 2012 ?

Imes -Our goal is 4, we'd really like to have a good opportunity for 5.

[iwantmorepies]

Wolf, great job here asking important questions. I don't quite know what to make of the answers.... proof will be in next year's performances, I suppose.