Olympic rowers pull together in Oakland for a shot at glory

U.S. crews pick up the intensity at two area training spots ahead of their trip to Tokyo for Summer Games

OAKLAND >> The pressure has increased at the Oakland Estuary for Olympic crews in the men’s eight and four boats heading to Japan next month.

The rowers went to work Tuesday morning with the Tokyo Games a month away. Rowing kicks off the morning of the Opening Ceremony on July 23 at Sea Forest Waterway where Clayton’s Kara Kohler will start her weeklong quest to medal in the single sculls.

The events culminate seven days later with the prestigious men’s and women’s eight finals.

The U.S. men have been pulling oars at the National Training Center in Oakland since 2018 to prepare for the big stage in Tokyo. The men’s eight hope

to return to the podium after finishing fourth at the Rio Games in 2016.

The team’s lone holdover from Rio is Austin Hack, a Stanford graduate. The crew’s coxswain is Cal alumnus Julian Venonsky. But all of the Olympians have made the East Bay their home over the years in pursuit of earning a seat on the Olympic boat.

Now the mission is to win a medal in the main event for the first time since 2008. The Americans also won a gold medal in 2004, which was the country’s 12th OIympic title overall.

The men’s four also train in Oakland. In Rio, the four crew finished seventh but won the B final with a time that would have been good enough for a silver medal.

The crews are the only ones representing the United States in men’s rowing. But the women qualified in seven boats, including the eight where they have become a dynasty. The U.S. women, who train in Princeton, New Jersey, are going for their fourth consecutive Olympic title in Tokyo. Meghan Musnicki, 38, is seeking her third gold medal in the boat.

The women’s four have returned to the Olympics for the first time since 1992. Stanford graduate Grace Luczak leads the team after competing in the women’s pair in Rio. Cal alumna Kendall Chase also is a member of the crew.

Former Stanford rower Alie Rusher qualified in the quadruple sculls. Kohler, a Cal graduate, will compete after almost quitting the sport when she failed to make the 2016 Olympics. Kohler won a bronze medal at the London Games in the quadruple sculls and also finished third in the single event at the 2019 World Championships.

American women won four medals — including two golds — at the world championships in Austria. The men did not reach the podium. The eight and four crews, led by former Cal coach Mike Teti, each finished fifth.

PHOTOS BY ARIC CRABB — STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER Members of the U.S. National Team men’s eight boat crew take part in a training session Tuesday in Oakland. The U.S. Olympic men’s team is based in Oakland and trains in the Oakland Estuary and Briones Reservoir. The men’s crew is led by former Cal coach Mike Teti.

Teti gives instructions to his team during Tuesday’s training session at the Oakland Estuary.