Speed 5 with Jason Read

[lt.wolf]

Hey all I am happy to present Jason Read as our Speed 5 interview, Jason is known for his exploits from sitting bow seat in the USA Gold Medal winning men's eight in 2004, his bio is listed below


http://www.usrowing.org/News_Media/Athl ... nread.aspx
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jason_Read


WOLF- Jason you have been on the team for some time and have been up on the podium with an Olympic Gold medal, where are you in the sport now and what do you see in your future?

JR- I’m training full time at the Princeton Training Center alongside 14 other elite rowers under the close direction of National team veteran coach Kris Korzeniowski. I went 19:20 yesterday on a 6,000 meter erg test which is 2.5 seconds off my best pre-Athens 6k. In late 2003, back when you could row at a National Team Speed Order or US Rowing ID Camp with music on and people cheering, Gabe Winkler and I battled each other like two dogs in a hubcap factory; ‘Hypnotize Me’ by Biggie Smalls came on with 1,400 to go. Mike (Teti) turned up the stereo and Gabe and I dropped our avg. 500m split by more than a second in the final 3.5 minutes of the piece. I went 19:17.9; he went around 19:30. It was awesome.

WOLF- Do you think more guys will come back to the team this year and next year in the run-up to London in 2012?

JR - It’s always good to have strong rowers return to the sport at a high level. I was excited to see Jamie Koven racing at the Speed Order in November. Hopefully Jamie and a few others from the 2000 – 2004 cycle will return. We need them.
When guys like Bob Kahler, Porter Collins, Eric Mueller, Tom Murray, and Jeff Klepacki returned to training between ’97 – ’03, the team benefited instantly from their leadership and experience. Chris Ahrens returned in the fall of 2003 and had an immeasurably positive impact on the training environment and our Athens Olympic boat. The shared virtues among all these rowers I just mentioned are very similar: they all are extremely tenacious, athletic, affable, heavily decorated, and maintained a balanced approach to training and work (i.e. career development). There’s no question that if Wyatt, Volp, Micah, and/or Paul return, the team will be stronger and buoyed by tough, mature racers.


WOLF- What are your thoughts on the current state of the men's team vs. 4 or 8 years ago?

JR - 2009 was a tough year at the World Championships for the Men. On the sweep team, Josh Inman and I weren’t able to contribute because we both had surgeries following significant injuries at critical points in the year; Josh injured his lower back and I developed a hernia after a great fall racing season and solid winter training. As I began to turn the corner on recovering from the hernia surgery, I crashed my bike on Easter Sunday while enroute to the Exorcist steps in Georgetown. Multiple rib fractures from a traumatic fall meant 5 more weeks of no erging or rowing.
Both Josh and I are eager to get back to the World Championships and line up against the World’s best.
In terms of international experience, we have a younger group of hard working guys who are improving every day. Korzo and Coach McLaren are working us hard and teaching all of us how to row more efficiently while maximizing our power. Heavy lifting has played as dominate a role in our training as the long aerobic steady state work we’re putting in each week.
4 – 8 years ago the Men’s Sweep team, both heavy and light, were winning medals in a number of different events. The team was substantially better funded and athletes received more support in a variety of areas. We also had more boats. I’m not sure if folks know that the primary Eight Oared Shell at the Princeton Training Center is the (beautiful) blue Hudson we rowed in 2004 in Athens. That boat was also used in 2005 at the World Championships in Gifu. It might be time for that hull to be dispatched to Harty Perry at the Mystic Seaport Rowing Museum. Sadly, for economic reasons, we have nothing to replace it with.

WOLF - Are you rowing full time or still doing the firefight job or volunteer work?

JR - When not in Princeton, I train in Philadelphia at Temple, Penn, or St. Joseph’s University where I’m currently enrolled as a full time graduate student studying Homeland Security. I still volunteer as a Firefighter and EMT, and the fire/rescue industry still plays a major role in my life. To help pay for graduate school, I work part-time at one of NJ’s busiest 911 Emergency Communications Center in Trenton NJ. http://www.capitalhealth.org/subpage.cfm?ref=174 I also work as a consultant to an athletic apparel firm called Sneakers Plus (Flemington, NJ).

WOLF- What challenges do you see ahead as the USA team heads to 2012?

JR- The biggest challenge we face as athletes is a lack of funding/resources. Athletes have to purchase their own tickets to attend compulsory training camps. If we want a good boat to row or race in, we must purchase it on our own. We are competing against full time, well funded athletes who have superior funding schemes, equipment, infrastructure, and general support.
If it weren’t for a generous and gracious host like Princeton University, and the National Rowing Foundation, our training center would not exist. And our ability to participate at the World Championships or World Cups would not happen.

The American National team has not evolved with the rest of the world. We have not adjusted to, or adequately countenanced, the notion that until we reduce or bridge the enormous philosophical gulf of Professionals directing or administering programs that severely impact Amateurs, our sport will never come close to its potential as a dominating featuring within the family of successful U.S. Olympic sports.
re: challenges. The competition is severe. Our team is in critical financial peril.

WOLF- You have raced in some exciting races, what has been you best, the Olympic eight, pair with Volp a couple of years ago, World Boats?


JR - The Henley pair race against Pinsent and Cracknell a few years ago was memorable because I learned what SUPERMAX pressure actually meant. After the race I had a bloody nose, blood coming from my ears, and blood in the seat of my unisuit (I’m serious).

The Olympic final in Athens was truly sublime. It was a perfect race, at the perfect time, at the perfect regatta in a place where Greek battles were fought. Breaking that 40 year barrier was very important on a number of levels. Other stand out moments were the Lucerne World Cup in the run up to Athens. We were racing the defending Olympic Champions (Brits) and defending World Champions (Canadians), both of whom ended up Gold and Silver, respectively, in Athens 6 weeks later. We were down by open water with 500 meters to go. Somehow we managed to win by open water. The last 500 meter split time was pretty quick. I think Beau was yelling at Volp in Spanish, and BLeery was just yelling to yell. Domestically, the final NSR before Beijing was a great race with Bryan in the pair. We knew Micah and BLeery were going to be fast because they dominated at the first NSR; they gave us a great run and helped push us to go even harder in the sprint than we otherwise would have. Men’s Champ 8 at the HOTC in 2001 following the 9/11 attacks was the best head race I’ve been a part of. We rowed the piece at 37 and wore ‘FDNY: Dedication. Tenacity. Gumption.’ shirts in tribute to those service members killed in the line of duty while attempting to rescue people following the 9/11 WTC attacks. It was a very emotional race in front of the loudest HOTC crowd I’ve ever experienced.

[smiles]

Hi.

[iwantmorepies]

Right on, great interview with a very solid and smart dude.