Eights in his veins: FISA Coach of the Year, Mike Teti

Mike Teti: U.S. National Rowing Team head coach
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It was a more seasoned, more mature Mike Teti who led the United States men's team in 2004 towards gold in Athens. It was a humble and gracious Mike Teti who accepted the award for 2004 FISA Coach of the Year, which recognised the achievements of the United States' head men's coach.

Teti came into coaching following a successful career as a rower that saw him rise from a small high school programme to making the junior national team after only a year in the sport.

The year was 1974 and the Junior World Championships were in Ratzeburg, Germany. Teti was in his country's eight. Tasting the wider world of rowing the 17-year-old Teti vowed to do whatever it would take to get to the Olympic Games. From that time on the eight remained at the heart of Teti's rowing experience.

Continuing on to be a 12-time US national team member Teti was part of the World Rowing Championship gold medal eight in 1987 which broke a 13-year gold medal drought for his country in that event. From bow seat of the boat Teti's influence was recognised when he was named US Rowing's male athlete of the year. The team went on to win bronze a year later at the Seoul Olympics.

The Seoul Olympics turned out to be the last time the United States would win a medal at the Olympic Games in the men's eight until Teti changed this last year at Athens. After breaking the world record time in the heat the United States' men's eight went on to dominate the final, winning the first gold for the US in this event for the first time in 40 years. Mike Teti was the coach.

Teti's coaching career began in 1982 when he was still competing as a rower and gaining success as a collegiate coach led him to be named US Rowing's head men's sweep coach following the 1996 Olympics. Teti instantly proved his worth when his eight won gold the following year at the World Rowing Championships. Three years later Teti became the only coach in the US to win three consecutive World Rowing Championship titles in the men's eight. However, leading into the 2000 Olympics as the chosen crew turned out to be a curse. The eight finished well outside the medals. Coach Teti had to deal with the disappointment of his crew going from favourite to fifth.

In 2004 he was determined to learn from past mistakes.

"The Olympics is different from the World Champs," says Teti who knew that media interest and distractions would increase to a level most of his athletes would never have experienced before. "I wanted to protect the athletes from themselves, from family and from the media." Teti believes there were too many distractions for his athletes at the 2000 Olympics and this had a detrimental impact on their performance. To counter this Teti hoped to instill in his athletes that the Olympics was just another regatta. He wanted to shield them from the distractions of helicopters droning overhead, the inflated media interest with cameras incessantly in their face and the added excitement of countries parading in fancy uniforms displaying the colours of their nations.

Despite choosing to race very little internationally before Athens, Teti, who ranks his stopwatch as being up there with God, says he knew he had a good crew right from the beginning. "This crew never had a bad practice." He had measured their speed on the water and saw how fast they were going.

Although the final lineup for the Olympic eight was announced only a month before the start of the Games, Teti says he knew who would be in the boat long before that. "I had a group of 12 rowers training in three fours," says Teti. "I put the top two fours into the eight (before June) and they rowed a ridiculously fast time."

The rower in Teti sees himself in some of his athletes although he claims that they are better than he was calling the stroke of the men's eight, Bryan Volpenhein, "the best rower I've ever seen in this country."

"For me I just really liked rowing," says Teti. "Even if I wasn't good I still would've rowed." This is a characteristic he sees in a lot of his athletes. "They really like rowing."

To keep in shape Teti continues to row with most of his fitness now revolving around the rowing machine because of its convenience. But the three-time Olympian still competes on the water in races although he claims to no longer have the burning desire of competition. His gold medal winning eight from 1987 get together once a year to race at the Head of the Charles in Boston and up until this year they have competed in the open section. This year was the first year the team chose to row in the masters category.

"My motto now is, 'no pain, no pain,' I don't have to prove anything."

Success at this year's Olympics has not slowed Teti down. "I'd like to continue coaching. I like the environment we have. I want to try and win again," says Teti who describes being awarded the FISA coach of the year as being like an actor and winning an academy award.

"There's a lot of great actors but the one with the best script wins," says Teti who sees himself as just one of a lot of great coaches. "I was blessed with the good athletes. I'd like to keep it all in perspective."

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World record breakers in the men's eight USA and Canada
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