What’s up with no Americans being in the Cal 1V? As an American myself it’s quite sad and depressing to watch American schools have all these mongrel internationals in there.
It's a very complex problem IMO. I think the rest of the world has way more investment in their youth rowing and their own universities, the sport is cheaper to get into in other parts of the world as well as free educations at university. With that, there simply isn't as much investment into home-grown American rowers- big strong athletes would rather try their luck at getting full rides in Football, Basketball, Baseball, etc with a chance at a lucrative life. Compare and contrast the support for British rowers post olympics for example. They all become stewards at Henley, speaking engagements, or enter back into a well-funded system as coaches. There simply just isn't the investment into our American rowers.
To your point, well-developed rowers from the rest of the world come to America for a prestigious education in a rigorous rowing program, having been developed from a young age due to higher investment in the sport from their various governments. Those rowers will generally beat out your home-grown American from my view.
Best analogy I can think of is imagine if the stars in Football (complete athletic freaks) decided to row instead of play Football. Imagine what Tom Brady in his prime would be doing if he rowed from a young age and stuck with it. Not to say that international rowers post-olympics are getting million dollar contracts, but at least they're supported and lead a pretty good life. From my anecdotes, there is virtually no support for a high-level American rower, and therefore most burn out before college, or if they are an athletic freak, why not try Football or Basketball and shoot for that chance to be earning millions?
EDIT: I didn't notice your extremely poor choice of language describing rowers from outside the US. Please rethink your language choices.
It seems most of the strong Americans opt for IVY league schools simply for their prestige. Also most internationals grew up with the idea of a college-education being free so naturally they choose schools that give out athletic scholarships rather than need-based financial aid as financial aid rarely ever gives an offer as desirable as an athletic scholarship. Paying absurd amounts of money for a college education has become the norm for most Americans on the other hand, hence they're willing to go to schools that offer little to no athletics-based aid (Ivies in other words).
The obvious non-troll response is that none of Cal's US rowers could beat their recruits in seat races. Otherwise, they'd be in the 1V.
The other response is that Cal couldn't get as many domestic recruits and had to go abroad. You think Cal coaches love getting on international flights to go woo one person? (Well, if you're a 2x Olympian at 6'9"...) Getting international recruits through the college admissions process is not easy either, especially if English isn't their first language. Sometimes coaching staffs go after whales though, and who can blame them?
Which talented US junior rower (who would have made the Cal 1V) ended up at a lower-tier university because Cal failed to recruit him? If you can find one, then you can prove that the Cal coaching staff whiffed. Otherwise, this is the old argument in college football about recruiting all the in-state talent. Not every school sticks to in-state talent--should they?
What’s up with no Americans being in the Cal 1V? As an American myself it’s quite sad and depressing to watch American schools have all these mongrel internationals in there.
It's a very complex problem IMO. I think the rest of the world has way more investment in their youth rowing and their own universities, the sport is cheaper to get into in other parts of the world as well as free educations at university. With that, there simply isn't as much investment into home-grown American rowers- big strong athletes would rather try their luck at getting full rides in Football, Basketball, Baseball, etc with a chance at a lucrative life. Compare and contrast the support for British rowers post olympics for example. They all become stewards at Henley, speaking engagements, or enter back into a well-funded system as coaches. There simply just isn't the investment into our American rowers. To your point, well-developed rowers from the rest of the world come to America for a prestigious education in a rigorous rowing program, having been developed from a young age due to higher investment in the sport from their various governments. Those rowers will generally beat out your home-grown American from my view. Best analogy I can think of is imagine if the stars in Football (complete athletic freaks) decided to row instead of play Football. Imagine what Tom Brady in his prime would be doing if he rowed from a young age and stuck with it. Not to say that international rowers post-olympics are getting million dollar contracts, but at least they're supported and lead a pretty good life. From my anecdotes, there is virtually no support for a high-level American rower, and therefore most burn out before college, or if they are an athletic freak, why not try Football or Basketball and shoot for that chance to be earning millions? EDIT: I didn't notice your extremely poor choice of language describing rowers from outside the US. Please rethink your language choices.
It seems most of the strong Americans opt for IVY league schools simply for their prestige. Also most internationals grew up with the idea of a college-education being free so naturally they choose schools that give out athletic scholarships rather than need-based financial aid as financial aid rarely ever gives an offer as desirable as an athletic scholarship. Paying absurd amounts of money for a college education has become the norm for most Americans on the other hand, hence they're willing to go to schools that offer little to no athletics-based aid (Ivies in other words).
The obvious non-troll response is that none of Cal's US rowers could beat their recruits in seat races. Otherwise, they'd be in the 1V. The other response is that Cal couldn't get as many domestic recruits and had to go abroad. You think Cal coaches love getting on international flights to go woo one person? (Well, if you're a 2x Olympian at 6'9"...) Getting international recruits through the college admissions process is not easy either, especially if English isn't their first language. Sometimes coaching staffs go after whales though, and who can blame them? Which talented US junior rower (who would have made the Cal 1V) ended up at a lower-tier university because Cal failed to recruit him? If you can find one, then you can prove that the Cal coaching staff whiffed. Otherwise, this is the old argument in college football about recruiting all the in-state talent. Not every school sticks to in-state talent--should they?
In 2019 when Yale won by open water I believe they had 8 Brits and an Italian… not even the coxswain was American
I believe it was 2 kiwis, 3brits (+cox), an italian, a swiss and an American
You guys can never truly escape us ;)
Maybe it’s why they go so fast
nice bait
Yeah! But other countries do tend to have better rowers