Mike Vespoli
Encyclopedia
Michael L Vespoli is founder and chief executive officer of Vespoli USA, Inc.
, a boat manufacturer in New Haven, Connecticut
, that makes shells
for rowing
teams and individual rowers.
crew as a walk-on. He went on to row with teams that won several national championships, placed in the 1972 Munich Olympics and, in 1974, was part of a team of eight American rowers that won a World Championship in Switzerland
. He later coached universities and was a sculling
coach for the 1980 Olympics
in Moscow
, which the U.S. boycotted.
As boat technology developed rapidly in England with the advent of carbon fiber
and other materials used by the aerospace industry, Vespoli started his company with the help of his retired machinist father in 1980 in the U.S. His wife Nancy Vespoli, who was on the women's crew at Dartmouth College
, a member of the 1980 U.S. Olympic rowing crew and has a master's degree in chemical engineering from M.I.T., is also involved in the business. The company has become a well-known boat maker with models that have won many elite races.
St. Joseph Prep School
National Schoolboy Champions
University of Massachusetts
Two consecutive Dad Vail
Men's 8 Champions
Wichita State University
Vespoli was given the goal to develop a nationally recognized rowing program in three years.
Yale University
The Tony Johnson-Mike Vespoli coaching combination proves to be formidable. 1979, Yale sweeps in in HW Men's V and JV the Eastern Sprints. Yale's Heavyweight Men's 8 places first again at the 1981 Eastern Sprints. In the four years (1981–1984) following Mike Vespoli's departure as Yale's Frosh Men's Heavyweight coach, Yale's Varsity Men's Heavyweight Crew defeated Harvard
in the annual Harvard-Yale race. Yale had not defeated Harvard in 18 years.
From an interview with Rowing News' Jeff Moag, November, 2009, Mike Vespoli said,
"We won the Eastern Sprints, we beat Harvard, I made enemies with Harry Parker. I think my proudest coaching moment is that when I left Yale and my three classes of freshmen filled the sophomore, junior, and senior years at Yale, those were classes that didn’t lose to Harvard."
U.S. National Team
Mike Vespoli's career has been closely associated with Coach Tony Johnson. Johnson coached Vespoli at Georgetown form 1967 to 1969. Johnson was the assistant coach and Vespoli an oarsman on the 1972 U.S. Olympic Crew. Johnson recommended Vespoli for the Wichita State University position, and Johnson hired Vespoli as Yale's Frosh Men's Coach in 1977. Vespoli is Committee Co-Chair of the Georgetown University Boathouse project where Johnson has coached since 1989.
Vespoli is a former member of the U.S. Olympic Committee for Men's Rowing, a consultant to the President's Commission on Olympic Sports and was an NBC commentator for rowing in Barcelona in 1992.
A member of both the National Rowing Foundation Hall of Fame and the Georgetown Athletic Hall of Fame, Mike has maintained a strong connection to the Georgetown crew program that launched his professionally and personally rewarding career. He served as the chair of the rowing association's board of directors for 16 years and has been a member of the board of regents for another 16. In 2000, Georgetown honored Mike with the Outstanding Service to Athletics award. Mike and his wife, Nancy, are members of the Georgetown 1789 Society.
Mike and Nancy Vespoli established the Vespoli Family Crew Scholarship at Georgetown University in 2003. The scholarship provides financial aid to one or more intercollegiate rowers who demonstrate financial need. The Vespolis have also donated money in support of the Georgetown University Boathouse project. In April 2006, Nancy Vespoli donated a shell to the Dartmouth College Women's Crew. The crew christened the new shell, the "Fast Eddie." The shell was named after Nancy's father, Eddie Parssinen.
In 2000, Vespoli was honored with the "Power Ten" award. The award is given to those who are committed to supporting the sport of rowing, both nationally and internationally.
Interview on May 28, 2009
http://witnesstohistory.georgetown.edu/?p=857
Vespoli
Vespoli USA is a manufacturer of racing shells for rowing. It was founded by former Georgetown University rower, Olympian, and World Rowing Champion Mike Vespoli in 1980. It is located on the Quinnipiac River in New Haven, Connecticut, United States.-History:...
, a boat manufacturer in New Haven, Connecticut
New Haven, Connecticut
New Haven is the second-largest city in Connecticut and the sixth-largest in New England. According to the 2010 Census, New Haven's population increased by 5.0% between 2000 and 2010, a rate higher than that of the State of Connecticut, and higher than that of the state's five largest cities, and...
, that makes shells
Racing shell
In watercraft, a racing shell is an extremely narrow, and often disproportionately long, rowing boat specifically designed for racing or exercise. It is outfitted with long oars, outriggers to hold the oarlocks away from the boat, and sliding seats...
for rowing
Rowing (sport)
Rowing is a sport in which athletes race against each other on rivers, on lakes or on the ocean, depending upon the type of race and the discipline. The boats are propelled by the reaction forces on the oar blades as they are pushed against the water...
teams and individual rowers.
Career
His career in rowing started in 1964 when he joined the Georgetown UniversityGeorgetown University
Georgetown University is a private, Jesuit, research university whose main campus is in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded in 1789, it is the oldest Catholic university in the United States...
crew as a walk-on. He went on to row with teams that won several national championships, placed in the 1972 Munich Olympics and, in 1974, was part of a team of eight American rowers that won a World Championship in Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
. He later coached universities and was a sculling
Sculling
Sculling generally refers to a method of using oars to propel watercraft in which the oar or oars touch the water on both the port and starboard sides of the craft, or over the stern...
coach for the 1980 Olympics
1980 Summer Olympics
The 1980 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXII Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event celebrated in Moscow in the Soviet Union. In addition, the yachting events were held in Tallinn, and some of the preliminary matches and the quarter-finals of the football tournament...
in Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
, which the U.S. boycotted.
As boat technology developed rapidly in England with the advent of carbon fiber
Carbon fiber
Carbon fiber, alternatively graphite fiber, carbon graphite or CF, is a material consisting of fibers about 5–10 μm in diameter and composed mostly of carbon atoms. The carbon atoms are bonded together in crystals that are more or less aligned parallel to the long axis of the fiber...
and other materials used by the aerospace industry, Vespoli started his company with the help of his retired machinist father in 1980 in the U.S. His wife Nancy Vespoli, who was on the women's crew at Dartmouth College
Dartmouth College
Dartmouth College is a private, Ivy League university in Hanover, New Hampshire, United States. The institution comprises a liberal arts college, Dartmouth Medical School, Thayer School of Engineering, and the Tuck School of Business, as well as 19 graduate programs in the arts and sciences...
, a member of the 1980 U.S. Olympic rowing crew and has a master's degree in chemical engineering from M.I.T., is also involved in the business. The company has become a well-known boat maker with models that have won many elite races.
Coaching career
- 1968 to 1972, Saint Joseph's Preparatory School
- 1972 to 1974, University of MassachusettsUniversity of MassachusettsThis article relates to the statewide university system. For the flagship campus often referred to as "UMass", see University of Massachusetts Amherst...
- 1974 to 1977, Wichita State UniversityWichita State UniversityWichita State University is a NCAA Division I public university in Wichita, Kansas with selective admissions. WSU is one of six state universities governed by the Kansas Board of Regents. The current president is Dr. Donald Beggs....
- 1977 to 1980, Yale UniversityYale UniversityYale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
St. Joseph Prep School
National Schoolboy Champions
University of Massachusetts
Two consecutive Dad Vail
Dad Vail Regatta
The Aberdeen Dad Vail Regatta is the largest regular intercollegiate rowing event in the USA, drawing over a hundred colleges and universities from North America. The event has been held annually on the Schuylkill River in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, since 1953. Briefly in late 2009, it was planned...
Men's 8 Champions
Wichita State University
Vespoli was given the goal to develop a nationally recognized rowing program in three years.
- 1976, Novice Men's 8, Wichita State defeats Yale.
- 1977, Novice HW Men's 8, Wichita State loses to University of Wisconsin by 3 seconds
Yale University
- 1979, Freshmen HW Men's 8 places first at the Eastern Sprints.
The Tony Johnson-Mike Vespoli coaching combination proves to be formidable. 1979, Yale sweeps in in HW Men's V and JV the Eastern Sprints. Yale's Heavyweight Men's 8 places first again at the 1981 Eastern Sprints. In the four years (1981–1984) following Mike Vespoli's departure as Yale's Frosh Men's Heavyweight coach, Yale's Varsity Men's Heavyweight Crew defeated Harvard
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
in the annual Harvard-Yale race. Yale had not defeated Harvard in 18 years.
From an interview with Rowing News' Jeff Moag, November, 2009, Mike Vespoli said,
"We won the Eastern Sprints, we beat Harvard, I made enemies with Harry Parker. I think my proudest coaching moment is that when I left Yale and my three classes of freshmen filled the sophomore, junior, and senior years at Yale, those were classes that didn’t lose to Harvard."
U.S. National Team
- 1979, Head Coach, U.S. Lightweight Men; Sılver Medal
- 1980, Assistant Coach, U.S. Heavyweight Men Scullıng Coach. Dıd not compete due to US boycott.
Mike Vespoli's career has been closely associated with Coach Tony Johnson. Johnson coached Vespoli at Georgetown form 1967 to 1969. Johnson was the assistant coach and Vespoli an oarsman on the 1972 U.S. Olympic Crew. Johnson recommended Vespoli for the Wichita State University position, and Johnson hired Vespoli as Yale's Frosh Men's Coach in 1977. Vespoli is Committee Co-Chair of the Georgetown University Boathouse project where Johnson has coached since 1989.
Vespoli is a former member of the U.S. Olympic Committee for Men's Rowing, a consultant to the President's Commission on Olympic Sports and was an NBC commentator for rowing in Barcelona in 1992.
A member of both the National Rowing Foundation Hall of Fame and the Georgetown Athletic Hall of Fame, Mike has maintained a strong connection to the Georgetown crew program that launched his professionally and personally rewarding career. He served as the chair of the rowing association's board of directors for 16 years and has been a member of the board of regents for another 16. In 2000, Georgetown honored Mike with the Outstanding Service to Athletics award. Mike and his wife, Nancy, are members of the Georgetown 1789 Society.
Mike and Nancy Vespoli established the Vespoli Family Crew Scholarship at Georgetown University in 2003. The scholarship provides financial aid to one or more intercollegiate rowers who demonstrate financial need. The Vespolis have also donated money in support of the Georgetown University Boathouse project. In April 2006, Nancy Vespoli donated a shell to the Dartmouth College Women's Crew. The crew christened the new shell, the "Fast Eddie." The shell was named after Nancy's father, Eddie Parssinen.
In 2000, Vespoli was honored with the "Power Ten" award. The award is given to those who are committed to supporting the sport of rowing, both nationally and internationally.
Interview on May 28, 2009
http://witnesstohistory.georgetown.edu/?p=857