Mike Vespoli

Mike Vespoli started rowing at Georgetown University. He later rowed for the Vesper Boat Club. Vespoli won three titles at the National Association of Amateur Oarsmen (NAAO) Championships, winning the coxless fours in 1969-70 and the eights in 1970. In addition to his 1972 Olympic appearance, Vespoli competed at the 1971 and 1975 Pan American Games, winning gold in the eights in 1975. He was World Champion with Vesper in the eights in 1974, and also competed at the Worlds in 1970 and 1975.

Vespoli stayed involved in rowing after he stopped racing. He coached from 1968-80, first at St. Joseph’s Prep (1968-72), and then at the University of Massachusetts (1972-74), Wichita State University (1974-77), and then Yale from 1977-80. He also coached US teams at the 1979 World Championships and was named the US coach for the 1980 Olympics, although the US did not compete.

In 1980, Vespoli started his own company that manufactures racing shells and other rowing equipment, Vespoli USA. In the United States the company was the first to make ultra-lightweight carbon fibre boats. He is assisted in the company by his wife, Nancy, who rowed at Dartmouth.

Vespoli is a member of the National Rowing Foundation Hall of Fame and the Georgetown Athletic Hall of Fame. He has served on the US Olympic Committee section on rowing, and has been a consultant to the President’s Commission on Olympic Sports.