Seat with a View: Inside the 1996 U.S. Olympic Men's Crew [ILLUSTRATED] (Paperback)

by Steven Segaloff (Author), Steven C. Segaloff (Author)
Key Phrases: medal dock, rowing career, stroke seat, World Championships, San Diego, Jamie Koven (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
Seat with a View provides a candid look at the world of elite rowing. Ride along with Steven “Scrappy” Segaloff as he steers the U.S. Eight-Man Crew through four seasons of intense training and racing, including three World Championships and the 1996 Olympic Games.

During his tenure with the National Rowing Team, the crew endures a wide variety of emotions, from the excitement of capturing a World Championship to the bitter defeat of losing at the Olympics. Seat with a View takes you behind the scenes of the U.S. National Rowing Team – in the boat, in the team meetings, and in the mind of a young man in pursuit of his dream.

At a time when most books by athletes only describe personal triumphs, Seat with a View talks about the other side of competition – what it means to sacrifice everything you have only to come up short in the big race. Seat with a View goes beyond winning and losing and presents an honest discussion about the value of competition itself.

From the Inside Flap
Seat With A View provides a candid look at the world of elite rowing. Ride along with Steven "Scrappy" Segaloff as he steers the U.S. Eight-Man Crew through four seasons of intense training and racing, including three World Championships and the 1996 Olympic Games.

During his tenure with the National Rowing Team, the crew endures a wide variety of emotions, from the excitement of capturing a World Championship to the bitter defeat of losing at the Olympics. Seat With A View takes you behind the scenes of the U.S. National Rowing Team -- in the boat, in the team meetings, and in the mind of a young man in pursuit of his dream.

In a time when most books by athletes only describe personal triumphs, Seat With A View talks about the other side of competition -- what it means to sacrifice everything you have only to come up short in the big race. Seat With A View goes beyond winning and losing and presents an honest discussion about the value of competition itself.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 232 pages
• Publisher: IUniverse; illustrated edition edition (July 15, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0595099424
• ISBN-13: 978-0595099429
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #650,223 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An excellent read, but not much about rowing, November 25, 2000

By	Keith Thomas (Canberra, Australia) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This book has some similarities with Devin Mahoney's "The Challenge": it is a US coxswain's tale and there is the brooding presence of a master coach from beginning to end. But Segaloff's writing is better - he is not an English major, so his account is more direct and uses less artifice. But Segaloff shares the same weakness as Mahoney: there is precious little in 200 pages about rowing!

The review by USRowing here on Amazon is a fair one so far as it goes, but it gives the impression that the book is about rowing. In fact, with a few changes and substitutions, the book could have been the account of any team's preparation for the Olympics - hockey, soccer - whatever. Here is an account of what a top crew did for four years, under "the best coach in the world", but what the rowers did is ignored. Well, I'm a rower and I'd like to know about the crew's training schedules, their times, their ratings, their faults and the exercises and drills they did to correct the faults, how they used off-water work to complement their on-water work, their physiological preparation, what worked and what didn't, how they selected the boats they used. But there is nothing about such matters - yet these are the things rowers talk about every day after training, in the weights room and the things that make up the exchanges between coach and crew on the water.

Mike Spracklen is a presence throughout the book, but the impression Segaloff gives is that Spracklen appears every few months or so to harrangue, to inspire and to select crews. You would not think he was there daily with the crew, observing their rowing, advising, supporting and improving each crew member's technique and the crew's togetherness. There is only superficial analysis of their opposition's training and technique and how the Americans planned to match and surpass their opposition. Perhaps Spracklen wasn't there - we just don't know.

Instead we get a lot of talk about "crew chemistry", commitment, the crews members' moods and nothing about athleticism. I am left puzzled at the end of the book about why the book ignores the nitty-gritty. Is it because this technical stuff would render the book too boring for non-rowing readers? Because these details are a US secret? Because Americans are trapped in their belief that the rest of the world has nothing to teach them? Or because crew chemistry, psychology are really far more important than technical matters?

The other brooding presence is Segaloff's fight to get his weight down to 50kg. He writes eloquently about his torments and these provide the most memorable parts of the book.

We are still waiting for a book with both drama AND rowing-specific discussion - one we can learn from as well as one that entertains.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars US Rowing magazine..., October 17, 2000

By A Customer

In 1996, Steven "Scrappy" Segaloff sat as the coxswain of the U.S. men's eight poised to bring America its first Olympic gold medal in the event since 1964. It was a seat that he had occupied since 1993 when he joined the national team. It was a seat with a view.

From where he sat, Segaloff could observe his boatmates, his coaches, his countrymen, and his competitors. And observe he did. During his four-year tenure as the top American male coxswain, Segaloff, a graduate of Cornell, kept a notebook of facts, figures, and insight. It was his reference and his guide. Four years later, it became Seat with a View, a look inside the 1996 Olympic men's eight.

"For the most part, the journal notes served as a clear roadmap to describe our experiences," said Segaloff, who recently graduated from the University of Chicago Law School. "What turned out to be more time-consuming was adding the writing between journal entries. The challenge there was to weave together different entries into one cohesive story."

In that, Segaloff succeeded. Seat with a View is a thought-provoking, often gut-wrenching read that offers incredible insight into an Olympic crew. Which is not to say this book is a tell-all. "I did not set out to write a gossip-filled book that would invade the privacy of my teammates and friends," said Segaloff. "Rather, I wanted to write a book that would accurately depict what it takes to achieve any rower's or coxswain's dream of making a national team and competing in the Olympic Games."

Adding further intrigue into his tale is that the 1996 men's eight came up well short of their Olympic gold dream, finishing a disappointing fifth. "The twist in Seat with a View is that our crew put in the incredibly long hours, yet we failed to achieve our objective in Atlanta in 1996," he said. "Nevertheless, my argument is that there is a lot to be gained by having the guts to train intensely and then put yourself in the arena of public competition."

The eight might have fallen short at the Games, but its victories along the way provide some of the best reading in Seat with a View. High on that list is the gold medal row at the 1994 World Championships in Indianapolis, the first time an American crew had won an international title on its home waters. Still, it all comes back to Atlanta. "Essentially, this book is the story of one crew's preparation for one big race, arguable the biggest race in the world, the men's eight Olympic final," said Segaloff. The hard work, desire, and sacrifice that went into that one moment are the foundation of the book. Its message is something more and is best stated by Segaloff himself: "Seat with a View illustrates that there are tremendous benefits to be gained by striving to be the best regardless of the outcome."

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Good Read For Coxswains, January 15, 2001

By	B McDonald "bkmcdonald79" (Boston, MA United States) - See all my reviews

As a coxswain, I found Seat with a View to be a very good read. Rowers may not find much information about training and the like, but coxswains can be put inside the head of Steven Segaloff as he deals with his doubts and dreams while trying to become a member of the US Mens Rowing Team which will represent the States in Atlanta in '96. Segaloff is faced with many issues which a great many coxswains face. Segaloff fights to make weight and not kill himself in the process, he must deal with keeping his seat in the Mens eight, and he must deal with victory and defeat. Rowers expecting a book which will reveal the "secrets" of the US National Team may be disappointed, but coxswains, novice and experienced, will find a story to which they can relate and in which they can find inspiration.