THE LONG ECLIPSE OF AMERICAN ROWING But then Gladstone moved on to Brown University (1982-94), an Ivy League school with Ivy League admissions standards and no great winning tradition in rowing, and he proceeded to win five more IRAs in 1983, 1986, 1987, 1993 and 1994. This time, skeptics said it was because he had recruited foreign ringers. Indeed, when he established a relationship with Nebojsa Ilic, the coach of VK Partizan in Belgrade, and started recruiting Yugoslavian and other European athletes, Steve was even accused of single- handedly ruining American collegiate rowing. Rowing News: “[Xeno] Müller, who University of California Steve Gladstone in 2005 was recruited by Gladstone to row for Brown in the early 1990s, is one of the posterboys of international recruiting. Brimming with talent and overflowing with panache, Müller went on to win a Gold Medal in the 1996 Olympics.4834 In the 2000 Games, he added a Silver Medal to cement his legacy as one of the world’s finest scullers.”4835 Muller: “I don’t think [Steve] was John Riley4832 of Penn A.C. understands: “When Cal wins with their bladework, they think that’s freakish. Instead of going, ‘Oh, there’s something there,’ they actually dismiss it like it was a fluke. It’s so funny how the brain is.”4833 When Steve first coached at the University of California (1973-80), his 1976 IRA victory was attributed to Cal’s rich winning tradition of three Olympic victories and not having to deal with Ivy League admission standards. 4832 See Chapter 132. 4833 Riley, personal conversation, 2009 afraid about shopping around and seeing who wanted to come from other countries,’ Müller said. ‘Whether people at one point agree with him or not, the team was unified under him. What Steve showed me as an athlete is how to be a leader. He can take credit for making me tougher.”4836 “Although Gladstone wasn’t the first to recruit oarsmen from overseas, he was successful at integrating foreign talent into a diverse, championship-caliber crew. Müller and Croatia’s Igor Boraska4837 are two high-profile examples.”4838 4834 See Chapter 133. 4835 Neil Wu Becker, Born Again, Rowing News, February, 2005, pp. 47-8 4836 Qtd. by Ibid. 4837 6’3” 190cm 207lb. 94kg, 1994 World Champion Coxed-Pairs, 1998 Silver Coxed- Fours, 2000 Bronze Eights, 2001 Silver Eights, 1347
