Topher Bordeau, head coach of the Dartmouth heavyweight crew team, has been tapped to help coach the United States Under-23 National Team, which will be competing at the world championships this summer. Working alongside Michael Callahan of the University of Washington, Bordeau is training the eight-man national team boat at Dartmouth.
"[Michael and I] split the coaching last year and it worked well," Bordeau explained. "It's helpful to have two sets of eyes on the boats making sure things are getting done right"
Dartmouth is hosting the training and selection camp from July 8 through 12. After training on the Connecticut River, the eight-man boat will compete at the 2008 FISA World Rowing Under-23 Championships held in Brandenberg, Germany from July 17 to 20.
"Dartmouth has a long record of both elite rowing and national team crews training here, and the Connecticut River in the summer is a great place for rowers to train on," Bordeau said. "More importantly, there's a long history of Upper Valley community support for rowing both at Dartmouth College and in the region, and this camp simply couldn't happen without the local families who are hosting the rowers."
The rowers invited to the training and selection camp at Dartmouth were chosen by the Olympic coaches based on their ergometer scores and previous competitive records. The rowers invited to participate at the camp all clocked in on the ergometers at around 6 minutes for 2,000 meters.
"We're looking to develop these guys, who have the potential to compete at the highest levels, for the United States Olympic Team," Bordeau said. "The next step for these athletes is to make the senior national team. With these guys we're looking not at Beijing 2008, but at possibly having a couple of the guys make it to the 2012 games."
Big Green rower Nick Foukal '10 was one of the athletes attending the camp. Although he was just cut from the team traveling to the world championships, Bordeau said that Foukal learned a lot from the camp and is capable of making the squad in the future.
The FISA World Rowing Under-23 Championships is held every summer to showcase the talents of athletes who are too old to compete at the junior level, but who are continuing to develop into the ranks of elite senior level rowers.
The U-23 event itself has undergone remarkable development. It was originally dubbed the Seniors Match and was first held in Macon, France in 1976. In 1992, the competition was elevated to Nations Cup, and in 2005 it became the U-23 rowing regatta and was designated as a World Rowing Championship competition.
This summer, there will be twelve eight-man boats competing at the 2008 FISA World Rowing Under-23 Championships. The Canadian squad, which won the prestigious Grand Challenge Cup at the Henley Royal Regatta, is the favorite.
The U.S. eight-man squad, as selected July 2, includes Dan Connolly, Grant James, Ross James, Derek Rasmussen, Silas Stafford, Henrik Rummel, Blaise Didier, Charlie Cole and Alex Osborne. The University of Wisconsin, this year's national champions, had four athletes -- Connolly, Grant James, Ross James and Rasmussen -- make the squad.
In addition to the competition in the men's eight, there will be many smaller boats vying in the men's and women's competitions. Over 40 countries will participate, with over 600 athletes competing for world championship titles.
This year, thee race will take place at Brandenberg's Lake Beetzsee. In 2005, the Beetzsee hosted the Junior World Championships, which saw athletes from 53 countries compete.
The Beetzee, a lake that naturally streches long, was first converted into a competition venue in 1969. Over the following decades, it has seen continuous use. A number of world champion and Olympic rowers and canoers began their careers there, including Birgit Fischer, Katrin Wagner and the Landvoigt brothers.
With 3,000 lakes and over 33,000 kilometers of flowing water, Brandeburg is one of the most water-rich regions in Germany.
Bordeau graduated from Princeton University in 1998 after leading the Tigers through an incredibly successful four year campaign, during which the squad won three IRA titles, three Eastern Sprints titles and four Rowe Cups. He then spent the 1999 season racing for Oxford, University where he competed in the famed Oxford-Cambridge boat race while working towards his Postgraduate Diploma in Social Administration.
Bordeau is now entering his third year as head coach of Dartmouth men's heavyweight rowing.
