#LA2028 talent development... what if

[boston_1x]

The US went to NCAA Swimming and Track and Field Championships and recruited spectacular graduating student-athletes for something like this...

https://www.britishrowing.org/gb-rowing ... a$$-start/
https://www.britishrowing.org/gb-rowing ... graduates/

[rowing]

“What if” ?????????
Make it happen then!?

Canada tried this and it blew up in their face. It’s hit or miss. Swimming and track are more popular and prestigious than rowing so could be tough.

In the us we had that guy Johnny St. Louis who was a top CrossFit athlete and long snapper at football. Physical stud but couldn’t row a boat to save his life even after two years with Carlos. Also quit on that erg test at the speed order one year and said his erg failed.

[sandor]

Reading bios of uni athletes, it seems like this happens regularly - volleyball, basketball, swimming, soccer.

Looking at the power the US women are laying down, it seems that there is a viable pathway that exists.

Our W1x was a swimmer, the fastest female on the erg was an all-American nordic skier in high school...


Men? well......

[rowing]

Part of the reality is most other countries don’t put any resources towards women’s sports. Outside a few developed countries such as USA, Canada, some of Western Europe, and China (new to game to show off) there just isn’t interest or support, therefore the us can pretty easily dominate because we have by far the most resources for female athletes. This doesn’t mean they don’t work hard, but there is more opportunity to jump in later in the game.

For men, it’s a more even playing field internationally. Specific to the us, our top athletes are in other sports with more notoriety and opportunity to make money. Obviously if you took too athletes from the nba nhl nfl mlb etc and put them through rowing for a few years they would destroy our current teams. Our guys are elite for sure but not the best. The women don’t have this issue because there are few to none in terms of money making pro female sports so rowing can grab more of the elite pool that chooses to keep competing.

[eeoyre]

Reading bios of uni athletes, it seems like this happens regularly - volleyball, basketball, swimming, soccer.

Looking at the power the US women are laying down, it seems that there is a viable pathway that exists.

Our W1x was a swimmer, the fastest female on the erg was an all-American nordic skier in high school...


Men? well......

The men did away with the freshman eight, and don’t have enough scholarships to entice an athlete from another sport to cross over.

[Stewie Griffin Should Cox]

The US already does this. Think Taylor Ritzel as an example. But the colleges do it not the national team.actually they are doing it less because they buy in foreign talent. But I remember racing Harvard crews who had guys who had never towed before Freshman year.

And, sorry to burst your bubble but the GB system invests heavily in this program with full time coaches and athlete funding. You can’t just say hey, you’re a massive potential, try rowing and see us when you have it sussed?

[Stewie Griffin Should Cox]

“What if” ?????????
Make it happen then!?

Canada tried this and it blew up in their face. It’s hit or miss. Swimming and track are more popular and prestigious than rowing so could be tough.

In the us we had that guy Johnny St. Louis who was a top CrossFit athlete and long snapper at football. Physical stud but couldn’t row a boat to save his life even after two years with Carlos. Also quit on that erg test at the speed order one year and said his erg failed.

What about the 7man from the Canadian eight in London who wrote the book? You don’t need a boat full of them and some will fail, most will fail, but you get 2 or three. oli Zeidler...

[Mango]

The US already does this. Think Taylor Ritzel as an example. But the colleges do it not the national team.actually they are doing it less because they buy in foreign talent. But I remember racing Harvard crews who had guys who had never towed before Freshman year.

And, sorry to burst your bubble but the GB system invests heavily in this program with full time coaches and athlete funding. You can’t just say hey, you’re a massive potential, try rowing and see us when you have it sussed?

The US went to NCAA Swimming and Track and Field Championships and recruited spectacular graduating student-athletes for something like this...

https://www.britishrowing.org/gb-rowing ... a$$-start/
https://www.britishrowing.org/gb-rowing ... graduates/

I came here for this. There needs to be massive funding around this to make it work in the long haul. All these people are planning on becoming lawyers, engineers, social workers, teachers, etc. Right now that is a 7 year unpaid journey for a kid trying to figure out where they are going to live 90 days from their final year of college. How are you going to get a the 4th best swimmer at Cal Berkley to put his life on hold for 7 years to learn a brand new sport at a fast enough rate to win an Olympic Gold medal.

[Mango]

The US already does this. Think Taylor Ritzel as an example. But the colleges do it not the national team.actually they are doing it less because they buy in foreign talent. But I remember racing Harvard crews who had guys who had never towed before Freshman year.

And, sorry to burst your bubble but the GB system invests heavily in this program with full time coaches and athlete funding. You can’t just say hey, you’re a massive potential, try rowing and see us when you have it sussed?

Also, Meg O'Leary. I believe she found rowing after graduating UVA. But not through any official program.

[Mango]

Reading bios of uni athletes, it seems like this happens regularly - volleyball, basketball, swimming, soccer.

Looking at the power the US women are laying down, it seems that there is a viable pathway that exists.

Our W1x was a swimmer, the fastest female on the erg was an all-American nordic skier in high school...


Men? well......

Part of this is depth in the field. There is a lot more parity in the upper/middle ranks of womens rowing that getting the right measurables from an athlete in another sport can really help you out. On the mens side it is the same crews over and over again. We don't see Hobart, FIT, etc. make the B Final at IRA's. There is no AD trying to give mens rowing more funding. That does happen on the womens side. Which means womens coaches have to get creative. Where the mens side is just an arms race for the top recruits in the world.

I pulled the IRA and NCAA teams from the last 10 years. The women have had 23 different teams in the A/B final. The men have had 17. Not to mention, where the women get a new crew or two who squeak in, the men's side has been the same 12 crews for something like 5 straight years. There is no real benefit to Yale, Cal, UW putting a bunch of recruitment resources into getting random athletes to row. They already have a bunch of guys in house who do it at an elite level where as the women are using it to fill rosters, depth, and the occasional V8 in hopes they can catch lightening in a bottle.

[socalstroke]

Specific to the us, our top athletes are in other sports with more notoriety and opportunity to make money. Obviously if you took too athletes from the nba nhl nfl mlb etc and put them through rowing for a few years they would destroy our current teams. Our guys are elite for sure but not the best. The women don’t have this issue because there are few to none in terms of money making pro female sports so rowing can grab more of the elite pool that chooses to keep competing.

this is a tired line. Pro athletes do not automatically translate to superior rowers. Other rowing nations have to compete for athletes as well. It is not something unique to the US.

You can also argue simultaneously that rowing benefits just as much from late comers to the sport with varying backgrounds as much as it would benefit from expanding the junior and collegiate pipeline.

[sandor]

Specific to the us, our top athletes are in other sports with more notoriety and opportunity to make money. Obviously if you took too athletes from the nba nhl nfl mlb etc and put them through rowing for a few years they would destroy our current teams. Our guys are elite for sure but not the best. The women don’t have this issue because there are few to none in terms of money making pro female sports so rowing can grab more of the elite pool that chooses to keep competing.

this is a tired line. Pro athletes do not automatically translate to superior rowers. Other rowing nations have to compete for athletes as well. It is not something unique to the US.

You can also argue simultaneously that rowing benefits just as much from late comers to the sport with varying backgrounds as much as it would benefit from expanding the junior and collegiate pipeline.

https://meghanoleary.net/2019/04/24/why ... ed-states/

USRowing (men especially) would benefit from recruiting the athletic castoffs of the university athletics system (and the pros).
a million+ athletes every year that will never even play in college.

http://rowingillustrated.com/boards/vie ... lo#p148910

I do believe that USRowing should be looking at the work & ideas of other countries (AUS, GB, NZL) who have strategic, long term thinking.
The big rowing metropolitan areas (Philadelphia, Boston) have more population base than some of the countries out-performing us.

https://www.rowingaustralia.com.au/wp-c ... proved.pdf

[eeoyre]

The US already does this. Think Taylor Ritzel as an example. But the colleges do it not the national team.actually they are doing it less because they buy in foreign talent. But I remember racing Harvard crews who had guys who had never towed before Freshman year.

And, sorry to burst your bubble but the GB system invests heavily in this program with full time coaches and athlete funding. You can’t just say hey, you’re a massive potential, try rowing and see us when you have it sussed?

I wonder who gets more funding--the GB athletes in the World Class Start program, or current senior national team athletes in the US.

[KitD]

It should be noted that the World Class program is not rowing-specific. It's aim is to match minor sports with promising athletes based on physical characteristics.

The uk pool of young athletes is too small to leave it up to chance otherwise. The same is not true for the US imo, whose university sports can leave uk professional outfits in the shade.

[Splashy]

It should be noted that the World Class Start program is not rowing-specific. It's aim is to match minor sports with promising athletes based on physical characteristics.

World Class Start is rowing specific in that it is GB Rowing's name for its program that is part of the overall UK Sport-funded talent ID programs.

World Class Start funds centres and coaches, not athletes.