United States National Women's Rowing Team

The first international race that included the United States women's rowing team took place at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal. Prior to that summer, the United States women's rowing team did not compete at an international level. Other countries, like Germany and Russia, had strong national teams, and were already pushing to be recognized in international competitions.[2] The International Rowing Federation, or FISA, began recognizing European women's teams in international competitions, which led to women's rowing becoming an Olympic sport.[2] The International Rowing Federation introduced a women's commission in 1969,[2] with the primary focus being the allowance of women to row at the Olympics and World Championships. As a result of the commission, six women's boat categories were added to the 1974 World Rowing Championships.[2] This addition created more momentum towards the approval and inclusion of women's races at the Olympics, and in 1976 the same six races were officially added to the Olympic Games. The races were initially 1000 meters, but the International Rowing Federation pushed to change the race to the standard 2000 meters that men raced.[2] This change was also implemented in the Olympics. Today, the same six races at the standard 2000 meters are held at international competitions.

Each year USRowing facilitates the team selection process for both the men's and women's senior national teams. This process is competitive and intense, but has assisted in the growth and success of the national programs. There are two ways to become a part of the senior national team for the United States: by winning certain races in small boats, or being invited to participate in selection camps.[8]

Because rowing has so many different types of races and boats, it can be difficult to find the right athletes for certain spots on the team. The national team's smaller boats, and some of the boats without coxswains, are the winners of specific races such as...[8] These two races (specify the races I would change it but I don't know which ones) are chosen by USRowing, and are typically the World Championship trials, National Selection regattas, and the FISA World Cups. Each year USRowing releases a document with the specific qualifications in order to be a part of the national team. The document can include specific placements in the selected races, or overall performances during the regattas. Typically, the winner of each race, and potentially a couple other places, are the selected groups to join the team.[8]

For the more competitive races and bigger boats, like the women's 8+ and 4+, the athletes are chosen via the USRowing selection camp,[8] which is an invitation-only event. The national team coaches distribute the invitations to athletes who meet a certain criteria that they set in collaboration with the USRowing organization. This criteria can include performance at identification camps, coach recommendations, performance in competition leading up to the present time, training performance, and other performances or recommendation-based qualities. If an athlete meets the qualifications, they are invited by the national coaches to the official selection camp. The coaches will then evaluate each athlete, and ensure that they are both compatible with the other athletes and capable of becoming a national team member.[8]

These processes are also used for selecting the Under 23 and Under 19 national teams.[9][10] The Under 23 team uses the Under 23 World Championship as a trial for boat eligibility, allowing each winning United States boat to be eligible for the team. The Under 19 team also has trial races, but only selects the single and double scullers and pairs from this race.[10] Both the Under 23 and Under 19 teams have similar criteria in terms of recommendations, performance at national identification events, and overall ability for athletes chosen for the selection camps.[9][10]

The women's team has achieved major wins in many recent international races. In every Olympics since his joining the team, the women's 8+ has medaled, and other boats have medaled or placed.[11] Their silver medal in the 2004 Summer Olympics was the first medal the team had won in years. During the world championship that year the women finished with a silver medal, but have proven themselves and won nearly every year since then.[12]

During the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, the women's 8+ won gold.[1] In the 2012 Summer Olympics the women continued to prove themselves, and commanded another gold.[11] During the 2016 Summer Olympics the team won the competition yet again, and finished with another gold, beating out Great Britain by a few seconds.[1]

The women also have performed well at World Championships and been noted for their consistency.[12] For over a decade, they have finished with medals and some of the fastest times in the world. Their first gold medal with Terhaar came during the 2006 world championships, and was a morale and confidence booster in terms of being able to achieve success.[1] They continued to win gold at the world championships through 2016. In 2017, the women placed fourth; a shocking result in their decade-long winning streak.[12]

Another of the team's notable performances includes their world record for the women's 8+. During the 2013 world championships, the 8+ broke their own world record for the 2000 meter race, with a time of 5:54.160.[13] The United States also set the world record in 1994 for the women's lightweight 4-, with a time of 6:36.400.[13]