No Strokes For Coach After Crew Places Last -- Seattle-Area Rowers Voice Their Complaints

BANYOLES, Spain - United States rowers lashed out at women's coach Hartmut Buschbacher after the women's eight faltered in the Olympics.

Buschbacher came under attack from several boat members, all Seattle-area rowers, for his coaching style and for waiting until three weeks ago to select the crew that placed last yesterday in its Olympic final.

"He trains us hard, but his East German mentality doesn't go with an American mentality," said Shannon Day of Bellevue. "He can get down on people, and that was real tough."

Canada won the gold medal, placing a boat-length ahead of silver medalist Romania and almost 10 seconds ahead of the U.S. boat.

Day said Buschbacher, a former East German trainer, gave her crew no chance to win by failing to pick the boat members earlier, when they would have had time to develop confidence and rhythm.

"Our boat should have been set two months ago," she said. "It's ridiculous. We should have been focused back then on going fast and winning medals, rather than, `Am I going to make the team?'

"I can't help but think what would have happened if he'd been supporting me all the time."

Buschbacher, 36, hired last year after four years of coaching the East German women rowers, blamed the poor showing by the women's eight at Estany de Banyoles on a lack of "fight" during the race by unnamed members of the team.

The U.S. women went a half-second faster than in any of their heats, but trailed the entire race as the Canadians improved their best time in a week by six seconds.

"Do they (Americans) want to win a medal or have a nice race?" Buschbacher asked. "They need to say here, `We screwed up.' Just be honest."

Buschbacher was hired to help revive a U.S. sweeps (one-oar-per-rower) program that was shut out from medals in 1988.

The women's coxless four, with Seattle's Cindy Eckert, produced a silver medal last Saturday. But the strength of that crew came directly from the women's eight, where two of the strongest rowers, Carol Feeney and Amy Fuller, were moved to the four.

"He left the eight hanging until the end, and that hurt us because you want to get that rhythm together," said Betsy McCagg of Kirkland.

Said McCagg's twin sister, Mary, who also rowed in the eight-oared shell: "It's hard to take that when you train for three years and get sixth."

Other members of the boat with Puget Sound connections were Tina Brown and Diana Olson, members of the Lake Washington Rowing Club, and Sarah Gengler, who moved from Wisconsin to train in Seattle.

Day, the youngest (21) and smallest (5 feet 8, 142 pounds) rower in the boat, said she confronted Buschbacher in February and on two other occasions about his delay in putting the sweeps eight together. She said they also clashed about her size, an issue that billowed as Buschbacher tried to fit bigger, less skilled rowers into her spot in the boat.

"There's a lot more to an athlete than a body, but he just kept looking at that," Day said. "That's an East German thing."

Countered Buschbacher: "That's stupid. It has nothing to do with East Germany. Rowing is for taller people, not shorter people."

Day declined to say whether she favors getting a new sweeps coach. Buschbacher is certain he passes muster, and considers the building of confidence in athletes "one of my strong points."