This is a repost of a deleted post that contained serious factual errors.
Hopefully they have been addressed (thank you A. Dumas) and the calmer self has prevailed.
I suppose rowers from many nations who follow the Olympics have
something to say about their country's performance in the rowing
portion of the Olympics. I think the biggest story is the failure
of the United States to win a single medal. Surely there must be
something very wrong about the way US Rowing conducts the business
of preparing athletes for the Olympics?
There was a certain amount of drama this year as the Men's coach, Mike Teti, is being investigated for abusive behaviour dating back many years.
Because the story broke just before the Olympics, it has garnered
national attention in the US including call for Congressional Oversight of the investigation.
Still, that doesn't explain the across the board failure of the US in 2021.
One theory is the failure to make use of data analytics. One of the
Olympic athletes was asked if Coach Terhar used data analytics during training and the answer was "No" - not that she was aware of. Obviously some data is collected but not like in other nations. New Zealand has "Goldmine". Connie Draper moved to Vancouver where the Canadians train and their eight won gold. Even at the collegiate level, the University of Texas used data analytics in its rise to winning the 2021 NCAA Championship. In this day and age, the failure to embrace data analytics puts the US program at a disadvantage compared to other nations at the top of rowing.
The Chair of the US Rowing Board of Directors and the CEO of US Rowing have both posted letters on the US Rowing website promising changes will be made. When you have a whole organization and mindset so far behind the rest of the world, how do you make those changes? I've seen posts on this forum about issues and frustrations with British Rowing and wonder if there are any correlations? No doubt there will be a certain amount of cynicism regarding the ability of the organization to change (to many ticks on the dog?), but it is still worth expressing the opinions in the hope someone will listen..
https://usrowing.org/news/2021/7/30/olympic-team-a-letter-from-usrowings-ceo-on-the-olympic-games.aspx
https://usrowing.org/news/2021/8/3/general-a-letter-from-usrowings-board-chair-on-tokyo.aspx
Data analytics is just one theory. It would be interesting to hear other takes on what is likely a complex situation..
Bob