Time to Bring the Men's Squad Back East

[rowing]

"the US M8+ has won two bronzes, one silver, one gold."

Should it be noted that Teti rowed or coached 75% of those?

[crewu]

By that standard Caroline Lind might make a terrific hire.

[rowing]

What has she coached?

[eeoyre]

"the US M8+ has won two bronzes, one silver, one gold."

Should it be noted that Teti rowed or coached 75% of those?

And he is responsible for 100% of all non-boycott medals!

[rowingtech09]

"the US M8+ has won two bronzes, one silver, one gold."

Should it be noted that Teti rowed or coached 75% of those?

Except the last of those was 15+ years ago, and he had a generational athlete at stroke to help him do it. The sport has changed a lot in that time but Mike hasn't.

[oneofthorsboys]

Bit harsh I feel. The USA 8 was 4th at the Tokyo Games. Very very close to a medal. Hardly a coach who is past it?

[crewu]

4th place in a field of 7. USA finished a second ahead of Netherlands...and 10 ahead of Australia (a boat full of guys who had already won their golds in the 4s) and Romania which didn't make the final.

Honestly, there are probably 50 coaches in this country who could have got at least the same result.

[rowingallday]

4th place in a field of 7. USA finished a second ahead of Netherlands...and 10 ahead of Australia (a boat full of guys who had already won their golds in the 4s) and Romania which didn't make the final.

Honestly, there are probably 50 coaches in this country who could have got at least the same result.

Put another way....

1st: NZL, fully funded program with the GOAT
2nd: GER, fully funded 3x reigning champion
3rd: GBR, fully funded
4th: USA, usrowing sh!tshow rowing part time working part time
5th: NED
6th: AUS, fully funded
7th: ROM, fully funded???

[crewu]

Put another way....to completely refute your fully funded excuse.

Men's 8 medals:
1st: NZL
2nd: GER
3rd: GBR

Men's 2- medals
1 Croatia
2. Romania
3. Denmark
Why aren't these the same fully funded countries that won the men's eight medals?

Men's 4-
1. Australia
2. Romania
3. Italy
Why aren't these the medals won by the fully funded nations that won the men's eight medals?

Men's 2X
1. France
2. NED
3. China
Again...completely different nations that won medals in the men's eight. Astounding!

Men's 4X
1. NED
2. GBR - well done! The outlier.
3. Australia

Men's 1X
1. Greece
2. Norway
3. Croatia
Again, different nations to the ones that won medals in the men's eight.

Every sporting nation is always going to want more funding. The USA men have a massive PROCESS problem and it continues to this day. The fact that Teti was not even a named coach at the 22 world championships is just the tip of the iceberg. Is it a shitshow? Absolutely. But funding is only part of it.

[rowing]

It is already being discussed among athletes that this could be the lost decade. We are a big boat nation that just hired a small boat master.

[eeoyre]

We can't really get much more lost than we already were prior to the small boat master's arrival.

[Long'n Strong]

It is already being discussed among athletes that this could be the lost decade. We are a big boat nation that just hired a small boat master.

I'd happily accept winning 2 or 3 small boats medals over 1, or no, big boat medals.

[fullmetal]

I'd happily accept winning 2 or 3 small boats medals over 1, or no, big boat medals.

Agreed, and if your process can produce small boat medals, you can more easily produce big boat medals. The strength of the USA is in depth, but for some reason, the process hasn't worked well.

[rowing]

It is already being discussed among athletes that this could be the lost decade. We are a big boat nation that just hired a small boat master.

I'd happily accept winning 2 or 3 small boats medals over 1, or no, big boat medals.

I know you think that makes you clever and cosmopolitan, but it just won't play to the mob. I don't know what country you think you live in.

[limegreenspeed]

The challenges continue. Going east won't solve the problems.

- insufficient funding
- weird camp system / non-centralized system for the eight and four
- athletes have to work part-time (see: funding)
- the opportunity cost is high in the USA, where you'd better get into the job market pretty quick
- a lack of modern coaching and training perspective in the big boats (Teti, Volp, McGee, Teti, whoever it is now?)

College programs like UW and Cal are miles ahead of the USA national team when it comes to the above. And that's obvious.

For what it is worth, I thought the Tokyo men's performances were about as good as they could be given ongoing challenges. Teti is a good coach, given the constraints around athletes' need to work. They were centralized, both four and eight were camp boats and located the NTC near good jobs.

Funding won't change, so that's out. The opportunity costs will only get higher in the coming years and decades.

Solution: go back to the same setup, and invest in a top coach. It's the only variable that is easily addressed. And given the performances in Toyko, the talent is there. If they could lure Sean Bowden or someone who has the technical chops, training chops, confidence and track record to envision how the program would work, a medal is more than possible.