--- title: Rio 2016 Olympics: US Women's Rowing Wins Gold Medal description: The American women's eight rowing team extended its unprecedented dominance in the water, winning a third straight Olympic gold medal canonical: https://time.com/4451334/rio-2016-olympics-rowing-womens-eight-team-usa/ author: Sean Gregory article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-08-13T14:41:11.000Z article:modified_time: 2023-12-13T04:12:07.000Z article:section: Sports og:title: America's Best Olympic Team Wins Gold Again og:description: The women's eight rowing team now won 11 straight world and Olympic titles og:url: https://time.com/4451334/rio-2016-olympics-rowing-womens-eight-team-usa/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt56dacd7dfb0bb947/6988a251524fc05bdcdf9254/usa-gold.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 5045 og:image:height: 2838 og:image:alt: Rowing - Olympics: Day 8 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: America's Best Olympic Team Wins Gold Again twitter:description: The women's eight rowing team now won 11 straight world and Olympic titles twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt56dacd7dfb0bb947/6988a251524fc05bdcdf9254/usa-gold.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # America's Best Olympic Team Wins Gold Again > Sponsored content. 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Terms and conditions apply. * Savings buckets are a feature of Ally Bank's Savings Account. * No ATM fees from Ally Bank at Allpoint and Moneypass ATMs plus we reimburse for fees charged by other ATM owners nationwide up to $10 per statement cycle. * Early direct deposit offers eligible direct deposits up to two days sooner. * Spending buckets are a feature of Ally Bank's Spending Account. ## Video: Meet The Coxswain Turning Tragedy Into Triumph For Team USA In Rio [Watch (HLS stream): Meet The Coxswain Turning Tragedy Into Triumph For Team USA In Rio](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/y9KIoZX6.m3u8) (4:17)  _Published 2016-07-08. It’s the most dominant American team you’ve likely never heard of: the U.S. women’s eight rowing squad, which has won every world title and Olympic gold medal since 2006. In Rio, a new coxswain takes over Olympic duties._  by [Sean Gregory/Rio de Janeiro](https://time.com/author/sean-gregory/)  ## Sean Gregory/Rio de Janeiro Senior Correspondent Updated: Dec 13, 2023 4:12 AM UTCPublished: Aug 13, 2016 2:41 PM UTC  by [Sean Gregory/Rio de Janeiro](https://time.com/author/sean-gregory/)  ## Sean Gregory/Rio de Janeiro Senior Correspondent Updated: Dec 13, 2023 4:12 AM UTCPublished: Aug 13, 2016 2:41 PM UTC Not being allowed to lose isn’t easy. Meghan Musnicki won an Olympic gold medal with the U.S. women’s eight rowing team in London. The team had won ten straight world and Olympic titles entering Saturday’s gold medal final in Rio. “There is all this chatter about how we haven’t lost and this and that,” says Musnicki. “And they’re unbeatable and they’re supposed to win. That can be overwhelming. So we set it aside.” Such a mindset worked out just fine. America’s women’s eight rowing team extended its unprecedented dominance in the water, winning a third straight [Olympic ](http://time.com/money/4449985/2016-rio-olympics-victory-tax/)gold [medal](http://time.com/money/4429421/olympics-gold-medals-auctions-sold/) on Saturday at [Rio](http://motto.time.com/4450005/olympics-americans-unstoppable/)’s Rodrigo de Freitas lagoon. Great Britain finished second, more than 2 seconds behind the U.S. boat, which finished the 2000-m race in 6 minutes, 1.49 seconds. Romania, the 2004 Olympic champ and last country besides the U.S. to win Olympic gold, finished third. The team has now won 11 straight world and Olympic titles: that’s every major global championship for 11 years running. The Cold War-era Soviet Union hockey team won 14 straight world titles from 1963-1976\. No other national team run, really, is comparable. Though the rowing lagoon has been beset by [pollution](http://time.com/4438147/rio2016-olympicsguanabarabaypollution/) problems, the setting on Saturday was picturesque. The Christ the Redeemer statue looked over the start. The US trailed by half a second at the mid-way mark, sitting third. Over the next 500 meters, however, the U.S. kicked into gear, securing the lead. “We believed in the fact that it’s a 2000-meter race,” says Katelin Snyder, 28, the team’s coxswain. “Our goal was just to stay completely internal.” Besides Musnicki, 33, and Elle Logan 29, — who also won in London, and in Beijing — the team consists of Olympic rookies: Synder, 28, Amanda Elmore, 25, Amanda Polk, 30, Tessa Gobbo, 25, Kerry Simmonds, 27, Emily Regan, 28, Lauren Schmetterling, 28. The win was particularly sweet for Snyder, who was cut from the national team in 2010, before the London Olympics. Soon after, she lost her 21-year-old brother Jake to cancer. “This feels way better than it would have had I made the team in London,” Snyder says. “I learned so much from getting cut. Personally, I learn a lot more from my failures than I do from my mistakes.” In other rowing results Saturday morning: American Gevvie Stone won silver in women’s single sculls. In men’s single sculls, Mahe Drysdale of New Zealand won a photo finish over Croatia’s Martin Damir, taking gold by 5-thousandths of a second. Great Britain’s men’s eight rowing team took gold later Saturday morning, with the U.S. team coming in fourth. But it was U.S. women’s eight squad who ruled the lagoon. A certain media outlet labeled the team [“The Most Dominant Olympic Team You’ve Never Heard Of.”](http://time.com/4450751/rio-2016-olympics-rowing-us-womens-eights-gold/) Might eleven straight world titles change this? “I would do this if there was no recognition at all,” says Snyder. “So should it? I don’t know. I don’t care.” ## Transcript [ MUSIC ] I'm in a really special position where I get to be a part of everyone's successes and everyone's failures. I don't think I'm really there to tell everyone, you're not trying hard enough. They're doing all the hard work. My role is to just guide people in the right direction. [ MUSIC ] I started rowing in high school. My dad said, you can't do that, because it's way too hard. So of course I was like, now I'm [ LAUGH ] definitely signing up for rowing now. Our team was really short on Coxins and so I was asked to hop over. I was a little small for a rower so I worked out really well. The coxin is calling the race plan and trying to get everyone on the same page so that we will be As effective as possible. Let go if the boats comes underneath Even if I feel a little anxiety about boats are coming at me, I have to do a really good job of Keeping that anxiety out of my voice because I don't want to detract from anything that anyone else is trying to accomplish. One stroke at a time. I won three national championships with the University of Washington. And I was exceptionally lucky to step into that program at a time where they were really building momentum and getting to be a part of that really helped Shaped me as a leader. Being on the team with some of my best friends is really cool because I learned so much from them. They've created the kind of coxswain that I am. The most challenging moment for me was just getting cut from the senior national team in 2010. I had been really fortunate to be successful up until that point and dealing with not accomplishing what I wanted to accomplish was really hard and challenging. But it ended up being the best thing that could have happened for me. And up. I kind of decided that I needed to take a step back and go do something else. I coached rowing for two years, and then after the 2012 olympics, I was lucky enough to be able to come back, and I made it in 2013 . >> And go. Having missed out in 2012, gives me an incredible, Appreciation for everything that's happened this cycle. [ MUSIC ] If I had been able to make the team right out of college, I'm not sure that I would have been fully able to appreciate the sacrifice and the work that goes into it. [ MUSIC ] I think I changed a lot when my brother passed away. He was a really really nice person. Probably like one of the most helpful people I've ever met, and I've really tried to take some of that into my own life. Being able to bring that to the team I think has been helpful for me and my sanity, [ LAUGH ] and also for my teammates. She has always been good in the race. But I think outside of the race she's gotten much better. She is becoming a little more aware that she's responsible for these kids even when they are not rowing and I think the athletes look up to her quite a bit. She will always listen to you. If you are stressed out or having a good day or a bad day she is someone you can go and talk to and know that she is actually listening to you and she hears what you are saying, that is part of what makes her a great Coxin and also part of what makes her a really great friend. [ MUSIC ] USA Heading for the gold. The women's eight has won the World Championships or the Olympics every year since 2006. There's definitely pressure when it comes to wanting to win and don't want to be in the boat that ends the streak. But I think for us we're really good at just being here and now. [ MUSIC ] For me, being in it and winning would be amazing, but seeing my teammates win, I think would be the best. [ MUSIC ] Just seeing how they've come, just imagining them winning gold medals, to me that's like the Mecca. 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