THE SPORT OF ROWING matically better than the rest of our squad.”8218 Teti sent to Lucerne this top four and an eight made up of the rest of the Olympic aspirants along with a second development eight. The four would meet Britain’s prem- ier boat, including their superstars, Crack- nell and Pinsent,8219 as well as Mike Sprack- len’s defending World Champion Coxless- Four from Canada.8220 The eight would meet Canada’s two-time defending World Champion Eight. Teti in 2004: “As coaches, we have to believe, because we have these egos, that we can make a difference with this crew. About two or three years ago I completely changed that philosophy. “I told the guys, ‘The Canadians believe that they are going to win the Gold Medal because Mike Spracklen is going to lead them to that Gold Medal. “‘The Germans believe that they are go- ing to win because Dieter is going to lead them to that Gold Medal. “‘I think that you guys are going to win the Gold Medal because you’re just better than they are. “‘It has nothing to do with me. It’s not about me. You’ve all been given opportuni- ties. You row fine. You have to assume the responsibility for this now. In my view, my job is done.’ “When I sent the four to Lucerne, I didn’t go. When the guys found I wasn’t going, Bryan said, ‘You’re not going to Lu- cerne?’ “I got right in his face and said, ‘Do you need me to go, because I’ve got a ticket. I can go. “‘Bryan, I think you’re going to win that fours race over there because I like the match-up. Let’s look at the standard, the 8218 Ibid. 8219 See Chapter 136. 8220 See Chapter 151. World Champion Canadian Four. Of the four guys, I think we’re ahead of them in two seats, and in two seats we’re even. “‘This is your seventh year on the Na- tional Team, Bryan. This is all about you. This is your coming-out party. By the end of the year everybody’s going to know who Bryan Volpenhein is. “‘If you want me to go over and give you a pep talk before the race, I’ll do that.’ “He looked at me and said, ‘Take your wife to the Jersey Shore, Mike.”8221 Beery: “At that time, Mike Teti told us that if both of our boats won in Lucerne, the selection process would most likely be con- cluded, so both boats were highly motivated to succeed (not that that was necessary to motivate us). “I came through the Penn A.C. system, and I had literally years of experience at my disposal from guys like my college coach, Bob Espeseth from the 1986 World Cham- pion Four, and Dave Krmpotich from the 1988 Olympic Silver-Medal Four, and espe- cially Coach Ted Nash.8222 “Leading up to Lucerne, we had a lot of help from Mike (obviously), and Ted worked on our rhythm a lot. Chris Nielson – his Cambridge crew has just won the 2010 Boat Race – accompanied us on the trip as the finishing coach. So, we had a lot of good help. I remember particularly that we were trying to sew up certain parts of our pieces to make sure that we were even split- ting the third 500, and over time we were able to really develop good rhythm mainte- nance and solid, even splits at high speeds. “As we got closer and closer to the race, we began to mesh the ability to maintain the even splits with some pretty amazing short bursts over 250 and 500 meter distances. At that point, I began to be pretty confident about our chances, especially because we 8221 Teti, op. cit. 8222 See Chapter 132. 2304
