USRowing Stays the Course with Coaches
USRowing’s head men’s sweep coach Casey Galvanek and head women’s sweep coach Jesse Foglia signed full-time contracts with the national governing body before the Paris Games.
Foglia signed a four-year deal as women’s sweep head coach in January 2023, Rowing News has learned. Despite the U.S. failure to win a medal in any women’s events for the second Olympic Games in a row, Foglia, the boat coach for the women’s four and eight—both fifth at the Olympics—continues to coach the women’s sweep squad in Mercer, N.J.
Only two pairs are training there now, but a full group of 12 to 16 athletes is expected in the new year.
Galvanek, who coached the U.S. men’s four to Olympic gold in Paris and selected the men’s eight, which, coached by Washington coach Michael Callahan, qualified for the Games in May and won the Olympic bronze medal, was elevated to a full-time position with USRowing in July.
Galvanek continues to work with Sarasota Crew, currently cleaning up and rebuilding after hurricanes caused over $500,000 of damage to docks and ramps.
USRowing high-performance chief Josy Verdonkschot is expected to sign a four-year deal to continue leading Olympic, Paralympic, and world-championship rowing programs when he returns to the United States from The Netherlands in mid-November.
Verdonkschot hired both Foglia and Galvanek as the head coaches of the sweep training groups but waits until specific National Team line-ups are selected before naming boat coaches.
The United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee will increase funding of the U.S. National Team’s Olympic efforts by 15 percent to $2 million per year and continue funding the U.S. Paralympic rowing program at $150,000 per year, even though in Paris U.S. crews captured only three medals—Olympic gold and bronze and a silver in the PR3 mixed four.
Despite higher expectations in the rowing community, Verdonkschot had set Olympic goals with the USOPC of two to four medals, six to eight finals, and 10 to 12 qualified boats. Although the medal count was low, since U.S. Olympic crews performed at the high end of other parameters, the USOPC was pleased with the results.
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