In Paris, Meghan Musnicki became the oldest athlete to row for Team USA at an Olympic Games. Following a “soul crushing” last race at the Stade Nautique, the 41-year-old veteran of four Olympic Games finally called time on her rowing career.
Musnicki raced in the five seat of the US women’s eight which finished fifth. “I’m incredibly grateful,” Musnicki said, choking back tears knowing her time as an international oarswoman had come to an end. “I’m heartbroken, but it’s a privilege to row with these women. It’s been a privilege since my first team in 2010 right up until now. They’re an amazing group of athletes. I consider myself one incredibly lucky woman.”
Musnicki is the last survivor of the US women’s eights dynasty; a throwback to the golden age of American eights, unbeaten for a decade (2006 -2016). Yet this isn’t the first time this stalwart of US rowing, whose rowing accolades include five world championship gold medals and two Olympic titles, has retired from the sport.
“I thought after the Tokyo Games that I was for sure retired,” says Musnicki, who finished fourth in the eight at Tokyo, beaten by China to the bronze medal. She returned home, married California Rowing Club coach Skip Kielt, and moved west. “I’d started the rest of my life after rowing.”
Alongside her full-time job in the tech industry, Musnicki trained with visiting Aussie Olympian Jess Morrison. “One day [coach] Mike Teti suggested we go out in the pair together. We had a blast. Then he asked us to race at Henley.” Having won Henley Royal Regatta, the comeback seed was planted. The following year Musnicki and Alison Rushner, coached by Kielt, qualified the USA pair for Paris at the 2023 world championships. “I love it. I love competing.”
Throughout the Games, Musnicki fielded age-related questions and generally became a spokesperson for the American eight who had hoped to recapture past glories. She was careful never to compare her current crew with those from the past, and sternly shot down one member of the press minutes after finishing her last race.
“I would like to think that when you wind up at the Olympics, everybody in the boat is doing everything that they possibly can, wherever that puts you. Whether it’s Tokyo or London or Rio or Paris or LA, it would be a great disrespect to any of the athletes to think they didn’t do everything they could. I don’t compare race to race. It’s a completely different team.”
“You build on things; you row with new athletes, older athletes coming back, new athletes that are fresh faces, and you develop cohesiveness and an identity as a team, and you build confidence and trust off that. That’s all you can do throughout the build up of all of it, through the four years, and then that boat shows up on race day, and you have the utmost trust in each other on that day, put it out there and do it. And that it’s a real privilege to be a part of that.”
Earlier in the week Musnicki discussed the impact US Performance Director Josy Verdonkschot has had on the team. “This cycle we spent a lot of time training together in camps all together. It is really fun. It creates this sense of team and camaraderie. It’s a giant team and it’s fun to do it that way.”
Musnicki still revels in the extra buzz at an Olympics. “There’s a ton of external stimulation and all exciting things to do. We went through processing, you get all your gear, you see your room. I mean it’s the Olympics, it’s an incredible experience. [But] at the end of the day, it’s a 2000m race – you start at the green light and whoever crosses the finish line first wins. So, it’s the exact same thing, there’s just other noise around you. It’s all very familiar. It’s the village that’s the unfamiliar part.”
Musnicki has adapted her approach to training as an older athlete. “Most of the women on the team will tell you that I’m a bit of a workhorse – that’s what defined the beginning of my career. I was cut three times before I made the team. I used to grind: I wanted to be the fittest.” Approaching her fourth trip to the five-ringed circus Musnicki was careful with her recovery, never shirking the work but ensuring her body had time to recover.
Musnicki’s not alone. Athletes can stay at the top of their game for longer, likely down to advances in nutrition and sports science. The average age of an Olympic rower at Paris was 28 years old, which ranked the rowers as the ninth oldest out of all 42 Olympic disciplines; equestrian had the oldest athletes and skateboarding the youngest. The individual ages of Olympians at Paris ranged from 11 years old (Chinese skateboarder Zheng Haohao) to 65 (Spanish equestrian rider Juan Antonio Jiménez), and for rowing it was 19 (Frida Foldager, DEN W8+) to 45 (Tonu Endrekson, EST M4x).
Fairy-tale endings are rare. Just ask the Sinkovics who have rolled the dice again and said they will be going for one more at LA2028. Perhaps, the necessary grit and chutzpah needed to make an Olympic champion tends not to lend itself to checking out at the top.
So, was this really Musnicki’s final run down the Olympic course: will she be at LA 2028? “Yup. In the stands with a beverage cheering on my teammates and my husband.”
