Coppola gears up for grind
Published: July 06, 2009, 10:57 pm
Story tools:
Share this story:
Steve Coppola doesn't view himself as a grizzled veteran. He feels like he just got into rowing to train for basketball. In his book, he's still young.
But not to members on the under-23 US Rowing National team. At last week's national championships, the up-and-comers gave the 25-year-old Coppola a thorough ribbing. "It's the first time somebody's told me I was old," Coppola said. "They see me as an old guy."
Time has flown for the Olympic rower. Coppola promises he has one more Olympic grind left in the tank. After earning bronze at the 2008 Games, the 6-foot-8 Buffalo native is competing in a flurry of races to gear up for this summer's World Championships in Poland.
Against the U.S. under-23 squad and a handful of club teams last week in Lake Mercer, N.J., Coppola's coxless four won gold medals. He also took silver in the men's eight and bronze in the coxless pair.[PARA]
"We were hoping to do that well," Coppola said. "It was kind of expected of us. We'd like to consider ourselves one of the best crews internationally."
It's all part of the gradual progression to the 2012 London Games. Coppola won bronze at his first Olympic appearance in the men's eight race. Now he's on the path for more. The US Olympic team is practicing twice every day for at least two hours each session. Next up is World Cup III in Switzerland on Friday through Sunday. "It's a lot of volume,‘ Coppola said. "We're going over 20K [kilometers] every practice."
The national race last week was the first time Coppola's current foursome raced as a unit. In rowing, chemistry is imperative. The slightest kink can derail a race. In the second seat on the straight four, it's Coppola's job to ensure the entire crew strikes the water in unison.
He calls the sport live action physics.‘ And he's the regulator. With three years of racing until London, there is plenty of time for the puzzle to piece together.
"It's not set in stone yet," Coppola said of the straight four lineup. "We're going to head over and test that out. The stroke sets the rhythm and the next guy is there to back up the stroke. I need to make sure we're striking as one."
With Home Depot having ended its 16-year jobs program with the Olympic team, Coppola is looking for employment. Last year, he returned to his alma mater to assist with Princeton's lightweight rowing team. The Tigers went undefeated and won a national championship. At Princeton, Coppola reunited with the coach who recruited him out of Canisius High School, Greg Hughes. Through Princeton's banner season, Coppola picked at Hughes' brain. Maybe coaching is his calling down the road.
"I thought about it," Coppola said. "I really enjoyed it this year. Working with the guys was great. But we'll see. If I can make it happen and find a job at a great place like Princeton, then yeah, I might go for it."
But not yet. Another Olympic medal is his obsession for now. The training has been strenuous all summer. He's put in plenty of mileage in the water and plenty of hang cleans in the weight room.
After one workout, Coppola said he hadn't trained that hard since high school. Maybe he is getting old. Seems like mom and dad just signed him up for row camp because they "didn't want me sitting on my butt for the summer." Coppola ditched hoops for an oar and his rowing career took off.
This summer marks the beginning of one final drive for gold.
"I've had a lot of fun with it, but right now, I think I only have one more Olympic cycle in me," Coppola said. "Probably in another four years I really will be an old guy."
Reader comments
Log into MyBuffalo to post a comment
MyBuffalo is the new social network from Buffalo.com. Your MyBuffalo account lets you comment on and rate stories at buffalonews.com. You can also head over to mybuffalo.com to share your blog posts, stories, photos, and videos with the community. Join now or learn more.
Comments have been disabled.
Due to a high volume of submissions that violate The News’ guidelines, commenting is no longer available on this story. If you’d like to share your thoughts on this story, click here to get information on contributing to The News’ opinion pages.