After completing training in Seattle, the U.S. team headed to Switzerland for the final Olympic qualifying regatta.
SEATTLE — In 1936, nine young men from the University of Washington shocked the world by winning gold medals in rowing at the Berlin Olympics.
Almost 90 years later, another USA crew team with ties to UW emerged.
Over the past 100 years, Washington state rowing has produced 46 Olympic medalists and 35 national champions. In 1984, former UW coach Bob Ernst helped the U.S. women’s team win Olympic gold medals in eight women’s events.
Now, as the United States attempts to return to the top of the rowing world, another college coach has taken the lead.
“It was a perfect day,” Riley Milne said. “I want to start the morning with good energy and move on to a good piece.
“When all eight of us are in sync, the boat almost rises out of the water and just takes off. It feels like all eight of us are completely trapped in doing the same thing,” Nick Lasher said.
“We are working toward one common goal. There are no superheroes or superstars in this. This is not a one-man show,” said Christian Tabash.
Michael Callahan has been coaching at UW for 20 years.
“Typically, the people who work the hardest are the most successful. I love the correlation between working hard and being successful,” Callahan said.
And Callahan has had a lot of success. He was named Pac-12 Coach of the Year ten times and helped the Huskies win five consecutive national championships. In 2004 he became a member of the US Olympic team.
“I’m telling you, instead of standing at the starting line and saying the name of your high school, college or rowing club, start saying America is ready, Great Britain is ready. It’s great. I’m ready for Germany, I get goosebumps knowing I’m representing my country,” Callahan said.
Twenty years later, Callahan returned to the red, white and blue as the head coach of the men’s eight.
“The other thing about rowing is that you get to represent something bigger than yourself, and I think that’s very humbling,” Callahan said.
“I feel like when people are young, when they grow up, kids say, ‘I want to be an astronaut, I want to be a doctor, I want to be an Olympian.’ But people kind of forget about that. I think I’m there.’ I have dreams like that sometimes,” Evan Olson said.
Olson never stopped dreaming. He was a successful cross country runner at Bothell High School.
“I was very bad. I wasn’t even on the JV team. I was on the open team,” Olson said. “But I tried really hard. Even though I tried really hard, I think maybe I’m just not good at sports in general.”
Then his mother gave him a book to read.
“She’s like, ‘Evan, you should read this book,'” Olson said. “It’s all about teamwork and pulling each other hard. And I thought, ‘Oh, cool, it’s like cross country.'” It’s not like cross country. ”
The book is called “The Boys In The Boat,” and it’s a true story based on the struggles and sacrifices of the California State University rowing team that practiced on Lake Washington and won a gold medal at the 1936 Olympics.
“I read this book in the fall of 2013 and started rowing in January 2014,” Olson said. “So it was a very quick turnaround for me.”
Ten years later, Olson was a member of the All-American Men’s Eight.
“It’s a great honor,” Olson said.
“Every time you race as Team USA, you wear the flag on your chest, and it’s something you do with great pride, and it means something even more special to you,” said Peter Quinton. Told.
Nearly 90 years after the Boys in the Boat practiced in the Mountlake Cup, Team USA is returning to the hallowed waters.
“Yes, Seattle is a special, special place. Seattle has always been a great home for Olympic athletes,” Chris Carlson said.
In preparation for the final Olympic qualifying regatta in Switzerland, Callahan wanted his team to be surrounded by greatness and history.
“This is a great story of local heroes and being able to come back here, training in the same waters that they trained for victory in 1936,” Quinton said. said.
The U.S. team finished training in Seattle and is practicing at Princeton University before heading to Switzerland. The final Olympic qualifying regatta will be held in Lucerne, Switzerland, from May 19th to 21st.
