Put aside all whining and watch out for Rio – the Americans are re-forming as a new strength
LONDON, ENGLAND – AUGUST 02: Mary Whipple, Caryn Davies, Caroline Lind, Eleanor Logan, Meghan Musnicki, Taylor Ritzel, Esther Lofgren, Zsuzsanna Francia, and Erin Cafaro of the United States celebrate after winning the gold medal for the Women’s Eight rowing on Day 6 of the London 2012 Olympic Games at Eton Dorney on August 2, 2012 in Windsor, England. (Image credit: Getty Images via @daylife)
in World Rowing. Theirs is the only significant world rowing country NOT to have centralised funding for full time athletes.
Is it possible they now realise this is disadvantaging Team USA?
Read this excellent summary from Peter Mallory on how he thought the USA team results stacked up. “One Man’s Take on the 2012 Olympic Rowing”
He makes good points about
- State funding
- 15 months training versus 4 years training
- The next Olympic Cycle
- Coach Tim McLaren’s system is starting to work and deliver results
The Bronze medal winning M4- trained exclusively on Rowperfects. After the regatta the losing LM4- were overheard saying to their more successful team mates – ‘We’re heading back stateside to get back on those Rowperfects’. They knew what tool contributed to medal success.
What do you think – can the USA become a rowing titan again?
