Olympics travel itinerary for Burdett’s Olivia Coffey and other members of the USA women’s eight rowing team is Italy, followed by Paris and finally the top of the medals podium if all goes according to plan.
Coffey, 35, is preparing for her third Olympics overall and second competing. She went to the 2016 Rio Olympics as an alternate, was part of a fourth-place finish in the women’s eight in 2021 at the delayed Tokyo Games and returns to that boat for this year’s Paris Olympics.
The objective is simple and formidable.
“It’s winning the race,” Coffey said. “I think if you go into the race not with the goal of winning, then you don’t even stand a chance of getting a medal.”
The first women’s eight heats are July 29, and the final is scheduled for Aug. 3 at Vaires-sur-Marne Nautical Stadium, about 24 miles from the Olympic Village.
Rowers from Team USA are set to fly to their training facility in Erba, Italy, on July 5 before heading to Paris two weeks later, giving them a chance to get acclimated to the six-hour time change. Lake Como is about 15 minutes from the training site, which is within walking distance of a hotel.
Coffey learned in March she made the team and found out in early June she was one of nine members of the women’s eight, which includes the coxswain plus eight rowers. Competing in the women’s four was also a possibility.
“I like being in the eight, I’m comfortable being in the eight, but I wouldn’t have been surprised if I ended up in the four, and I would have been happy with that as well,” Coffey said.
More: What motivated Coffey to take a shot at another Olympics
With the Olympics a month away, Coffey said the mindset is to stay focused, do the simple things well and try to enjoy the experience. She took time off from rowing after Tokyo before deciding to resume training to make a bid for another Olympics.
“You want to do so well, and you get wrapped around the axle at points and that’s totally normal,” Coffey said. “It is such a cool experience, and I feel like what’s different this time around is the team was selected in March as opposed to June. So, you had time to train as a crew, so you’re a little more sure, and you feel like you’ve had more time, and it’s been a much more comfortable progression toward the Olympics.”
Coffey will be joined in the eight by coxswain Cristina Castagna, Molly Bruggeman, Margaret Hedeman, Claire Collins, Regina Salmons, Madeleine Wanamaker, Charlotte Buck and Ithaca College graduate Meghan Musnicki, who is from Naples in Ontario County.
“They’re all so strong in different aspects,” Coffey said of her boatmates. “They’re hard workers. You don’t end up in rowing without being a hard worker, but these people, they grind. It’s not really something you can teach. People either want to grind or they don’t, and all these women do.
“I have no doubt everybody is going to put forth their very best effort. That’s nice to be around. That’s something nice about coming back. I missed being in an environment with so many women working together and really grinding.”
Coffey, Buck and Musnicki return from the Tokyo team that just missed a medal. Coffey has been training in the stern at the No. 7 position, which is two spots from the coxswain and one from the stroke.
“I try to be somebody who can sit anywhere,” she said. “If you want to put me in the stern, you can put me in the stern. If you want to put me in the bow, you can put me in the bow. I think I add more value in the stern of the boat just because I’ve been there a ton of times.”
USA had a strong showing at its buildup for the Olympics at World Rowing Cup II in late May in Lucerne, Switzerland, winning two golds among seven medals. Coffey and the women’s eight claimed bronze behind Canada and Great Britain after winning the race for lanes. Coffey said the finish was disappointing, but she is excited about where the team stands after months of demanding but encouraging training in Princeton, New Jersey.
The training program for USA has changed significantly since Tokyo, including a new high-performance director and new coaching staff. Team USA men and women have worked in tandem while following the same program. Intrasquad competitions once a week against the men have been a benefit.
The overriding goal, Coffey said, is to be as consistent as possible.
“The training has been really hard, which makes being consistent actually more difficult because you want to perform at a very high level, and sometimes it’s hard to do that when you feel like you’re a little underwater a bit,” Coffey said. “But I think we have a really strong group. I don’t think anybody is going to outpower us, it’s just a matter of performing on the day, which I think we can absolutely do. We just have to go out there and do it.”
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This article originally appeared on Elmira Star-Gazette: Olivia Coffey of Burdett part of women’s eight for 2024 Paris Olympics
