Every four years, all eyes turn to the Summer Olympics. This year, more than 500 athletes are set to represent Team USA when the games begin in Paris on July 26. Five top competitors and coaches who call Northern Virginia and Washington, DC, home tell us what goes into taking the world stage.
By Michele Kettner and Maggie Roth
Christian Tabash
Hometown: Alexandria
Sport: Rowing, Men’s Eight
How did you get into rowing?
“I would read these emails that my dad was subscribed to and follow a lot of the workouts. One of the emails, it was in 2008, [the personal trainer] points to three sports at the Olympics that he thinks are some of the healthiest athletes or the most fit. It was gymnastics, sprinting, and rowing. We ended up watching rowing in 2008 and my dad was pretty amazed at how big and strong these guys are.
“I kept working out at a pretty young age and training just because my dad had instilled in me a love of training. I played soccer my whole life, and in ninth grade, in the offseason of soccer, I wanted to try out for my high school’s basketball team, but my dad was pretty frank and told me that I had no future in basketball, so not to waste my time. He said, “If you don’t make the team, give rowing a shot.” I got cut in the second round of tryouts and started rowing. I did pretty well, made some new friends. When I showed up the next year, I got put in the top boat.”
With this being your first Olympic competition, have you received any advice from Olympic veterans about competing on this level?
“When the boat was named, at the end of March, we had a conversation with the guys in the men’s four, who are all … Olympians from Tokyo. What they reiterated at the last meeting is that the Olympics is not like any world championships that any of us have been to. It’s its own beast. The distractions are much higher, and the pressure is much higher, so that was pretty helpful. They were also helping us navigate what things we should pay attention to in training, which has been useful.”
What will it take to end up on the podium in Paris?
“We’re on the right path. We have all of the tools that we would need to end up on the podium. I think that from now until then, it’s just about putting in really, really high-quality work and refining all of the things that we have been working on. There’s no secret sauce, and there’s nothing dramatically new that we’ll be introducing into the mix or into the conversation. These last two races were really good confidence boosters that we are on the right path. The training is paying off. The technical rowing is sound. We are also aware that we’re the newest crew out there. … The past couple of weeks, we’ve still been really gelling and finding each other and getting really synched up. Just staying resolute in the path that we’re on will take us to where we need to be.”
Excluding your own competitions, what are you most looking forward to at the Olympics?
“For me, it’s always a blast to see real-time live sports competitions, but then to see that at the highest level will be pretty cool. I can’t wait to watch other athletes from around the world — the best from the world compete — in track and soccer but branching out and seeing other sports. I got into recreational volleyball and dabbled in basketball, so seeing that and hopefully meeting the athletes. I guess it’s a huge perk of being an athlete, too. I just can’t wait to be in an environment where others who have dedicated themselves to their crafts and have exemplified their athletic superiority. Seeing and meeting them is something I can’t wait for.”
Torri Huske
Hometown: Arlington
Sport: Swimming
How did you first get into swimming?
“I guess my parents signed me up for a bunch of different [activities]. When I was younger, I did … ceramics, art class, yoga lessons, soccer, running, like I did a whole bunch of different things. My parents wanted me to try as many different things so that I could find what I like.
“Honestly, when I first started swimming, I didn’t really like it because I was always really cold. My friends didn’t realize that I didn’t like it, so I kind of stuck with it on accident, and then I eventually did start liking it.”
Was there anything that drew you to butterfly as your signature stroke?
“No, I feel like you don’t really choose what strokes you’re best at, they kind of choose you. I used to be a breaststroker, a flyer. Now I’ve become a 100 flyer, like a sprint freestyler, and a 200 IMer. It’s kind of changed over the years. I just kind of go with whatever is feeling good.”
When you went to the 2020 Olympics, you were 18. What was it like to handle that pressure of going to the Olympics as a teenager?
“It was definitely very surreal, walking around the village. And I mean, your whole life — you hear about the Olympics, and you see it on the TV, and then when you walk around the village, it doesn’t really feel real. … But also, it’s like any other meet. To make the Olympics you have to be [competing] at a really high level. So, I feel like if you take it as any other meet and you try not to get too in your head about it, it’s not so bad.”
How does competition and preparation for the Olympics differ from regular day-to-day competition and preparation?
“I feel like it’s more about energy control — at least for me — and emotional control and learning to manage the stress and the excitement of a big race. I think that in smaller competitions, it’s more about working on small details, so that in the future you don’t have to think about them. A big race is more about managing your emotions and taking care of your body and making sure that you’re recovering after each event.”
Excluding your competitions, what do you look forward to most?
“I really love hanging out with the team. And I think we have a really good group here at Stanford. The girls are really optimistic and positive — but it’s not like toxic positivity, where it’s all the time you’re positive and you can’t acknowledge that something is hard. I think we do a really good balance of admitting when something is hard, but also working through it and uplifting each other.”
What advice do you have for kids who are getting into swimming or high school athletes who want to be in your position?
“I think just keep working on the fine details and listening to your coaches, and you will get this far.”
Claire Collins
Hometown: McLean
Sport: Rowing, Women’s Eight
What did you learn from the last Olympics that you’re going to apply to your strategy for Paris?
“In Tokyo, I think I learned a lot because it was my first exposure to that whole level. The U.S. team has been very successful over the last few decades. My own personal thing that I learned is you really have to take ownership — not that we were passive in any of the training leading up to it. I think I had just assumed, making the team, I had a very good shot of medaling, just by being part of the U.S. women’s team.
“It was also a learning moment for me in terms of how to handle [distractions], both individually and then as a boat or as a team, and how we sort of stay on the right page. That’s something you can’t really prepare for until you’ve been through it.”
The team was selected earlier than the last Olympics. What have you been doing to keep yourself ready for Paris?
“I cannot emphasize enough how different the lead-up is. … The Olympic races are very stressful, but the selection to become part of the Olympic team is just as stressful, if not more stressful. I think the idea is to take away some of that stress in that area, so that there’s time to build the right type of stress and pressure in another area, but have time to sort of gel as a team, relax, focus on things, and not burn the candle at both ends right up until we get there. We’ll get to actually race before we get to the Olympics, which is normally what happens in a normal Olympic year. It just creates longer chunks of really solid training, which I think is going to benefit the group a lot while keeping it at a very high intensity.”
What do you think it will be like to have fans back in the stands?
“I’m really, really excited to experience it. … At least from what I’ve seen when there are normally fans, it’s like a roar. Like it’s really loud. It’s something that we don’t get to experience in the world championships. It is a fun sort of adrenaline-inducing thing to have that we don’t normally get to have. I do have family coming. My whole immediate family — my parents and my two sisters — and my baby niece is coming, too. My parents have rented an Airbnb near the course in France, so it sounds like there’s a bunch of people in the house. It’ll be really fun to share that moment with them, considering I didn’t get to do that in Tokyo. I completely give them a ton of credit for helping me get to where I am today, so it’s really special to be able to share that with them.”
What are you looking forward to most?
“In Tokyo, and probably similar in Paris, there’s just one large dining hall, so everyone eats there, which I thought was super cool as a way to just see a bunch of different people. There were opportunities there just to meet people from all around the world. It’s just a very unique, special experience. It just reminds you how talent and athleticism and determination come in all different shapes and sizes, because everyone is there for different sports and from different countries.”
Trinity Rodman
NoVA Ties: Washington Spirit Forward
Sport: Women’s Soccer
At what point did you realize competing at the Olympics was a possibility?
“When I was first getting called up to the national team, as a competitive person, you always think it’s a possibility, but it’s not something you think about a lot. The environment with the U.S. team is so competitive, you are always just thinking about the next game for your club, doing well enough to get called to the next national team camp, and then if you do, performing in that environment. If you can do the small things, they can add up to big things, like making an Olympic team, but my focus is more day-to-day.”
Looking back at previous U.S. Olympic soccer teams, which players did you look up to?
“I have mad respect for all the players that came before us and set the standards for the current team and paved a path for us to have what we have today, but I just want to be the best player I can be. You always have to be humble and never waste any chances to learn and grow, so that’s what I’ll continue to do.”
What would it mean to make the Olympic team?
“It would mean a lot. As Americans, we grow up watching the Olympics, so to be a part of something special and unique like that is a dream and a goal. To be a part of a bigger thing like Team USA would be really fun.”
How has your experience in the 2023 World Cup prepared you to compete in the Olympics?
“For sure getting to play in a World Cup prepares you for the next world championship. It’s very hard to replicate the feeling of playing in a World Cup for your country and everything that goes along with that, so the more experience you get in those kind of environments, the better it is to help you prepare and eventually perform on the biggest stages. We had a bit of a rough World Cup, but I know the team will take those experiences and turn them into positives in the Olympics.”
What advice do you have for the kids who will watch these games and realize that they want to be a professional athlete/representative of Team USA?
“Natural talent is one thing, and you certainly need that to reach the highest levels, but it’s not enough. You need to have work ethic and you need to be in positive playing environments so you can grow as a person and a player. Those are two things you can control, how much and how hard you work, and surrounding yourself with the best coaches and teammates you can. Also, watch as much high-level soccer as you can, men’s [or] women’s. Watching great players is one of the best coaches there is.”
Mike Thibault
NoVA Ties: Washington Mystics General Manager
Sport: Women’s Basketball, Assistant Coach
With all eyes on the WNBA this season, what kind of fan response do you expect to see in Paris?
“Right now, as we’ve seen, everywhere, the eyes of a lot of basketball fans are on the women’s game. Because we’ve always been the dominant team at the Olympics, we’re naturally going to get those eyes. The increased exposure, that’s a big deal. The games will be on TV in late afternoons or prime time in the U.S. on a lot of days, so the TV interest is going to be really high.
“Basketball right now, in France in general, on both the men’s and the women’s side, is at a really high level. There are a lot of really good young players. … It’s kind of a good confluence of timing between being in a country that’s hosting the Olympics that has a huge basketball interest right now, plus, the huge interest just alone in women’s basketball in the United States. I think it’s going to be great.”
Team USA is going for its eighth consecutive gold medal. What goes into coaching a team that is consistently the best?
“Pressure not to lose. I remember even in 2008, we were getting ready to play the gold medal game, and it was my scout, and I’m thinking, ‘Man, I do not want to be the coach that messes this up.’ We won reasonably, but there is that pressure when you get a streak like that going. It helps to know that every time you turn around, you got a bunch of really good players.
“One of the best hallmarks of why the streak is what it is, is because the players that have made the national team in the U.S. have been so aware of the tradition and excellence that has to go into playing at that level. There’s this real pride in being the best in the world and wanting to continue that. You don’t want to let the previous players down. There’s a legacy to continue, and I think that everybody feels that.”
Feature image courtesy row2k
This story originally ran in our July issue. For more stories like this, subscribe to Northern Virginia Magazine.
