An Inside Look at What it Takes to Become an Olympic Athlete

For athletes training for this year's Summer Olympics in Rio, a grueling training schedule is a given. But for some, the financial sacrifices needed to become an Olympic athlete can be just as arduous. 'The financial obligations to the athletes are really challenging. They have the same cost of living as any 20 to 30 year old,' said Glenn Merry, CEO of the USRowing, the nonprofit organization that works to train Olympic rowers. 'You have to pay for an apartment or find some place to live free. You have to be able to pay for enough groceries to consume 5,000 to 7,000 calories a day, which is three times what normal person is eating.' The men's and women's Olympic rowing teams train in Princeton, New Jersey, where cost of living is high for the athletes. ''Their stipends are really very meager. They can't cover the costs of living in Princeton,' said Merry. Stipends paid to the athletes range from 600 to 17 hundred dollars a month. In Princeton, the median monthly rent for a one bedroom apartment is just over 18-hundred dollars, according to Trulia.com. USRowing works with the local community to try to find the athletes free housing and flexible jobs to cover their expenses. 'We don't make a lot of money. You don't hear many of us complain,' said Henrik Rummel, a member of the men's Olympic team. 'It's definitely something we accept going into it. It's very difficult to try make an actual living on your own.' Rummel, who was a medalist in the last Olympics, is eager to go for the gold this year in Rio. At 29, he's already accomplished more than most, and not just on the water. Rummel graduated from Harvard University, earning a degree in applied mathematics. He has been working at a Sword, Rowe & Co., a boutique investment bank in Princeton. "We do a lot of middle market advisory, M&A, and fundraising. I started as an analyst. I'm now an associate, but the last couple months its been part time,' said Henrik, who had to put his career on hold to manage a full time training schedule. " I felt, especially with the physical toll because you're training so much, it was really difficult,' he said. USRowing works with the local community to try to find free housing and flexible jobs for the athletes during training. 'The training commitment is 8 to 10 hours a day so they're already working a full time job seven days a week to make the Olympic gold medal position,' explained Merry. Athletes like Rummel will soon learn if all the training and financial sacrifices were worth it. Winning another medal would mean the world to Rummel, who says this will be his last Olympics.
Subscribe to TheStreetTV on KZbin: t.st/TheStreetTV
For more content from TheStreet visit: thestreet.com
Check out all our videos: / thestreettv
Follow TheStreet on Twitter: / thestreet
Like TheStreet on Facebook: / thestreet
Follow TheStreet on LinkedIn: / thestreet
Follow TheStreet on Google+: plus.google.com...

[@robomend]

36 strokes a minute for 28km each day? .. yeah sure.

[@julieturnbull7475]

I know right

[@brunes4439]

Yeah that’s what I thought immediately, you don’t row that fast for that mileage lol

[@aaronfrank541]

no they dont row at a pace of 36 strokes per minute... what the fuck?

[@aaronfrank541]

not 200km at that pace

[@Nclux]

yeah they do if not more

[@anatoler8737]

Nathan Luxemburger If you row you know it's just impossible to row 200k a week at a pace of 36 strokes per minute, but I'm sure they row 200k a week, just not at that pace.

[@matthewbarrett3378]

at 3:10 he rows in a pair, stroke has two clams bow has none in use. why's this?

[@willfillms]

Maybe their oars were set up differently?

[@lkcp10]

what is he doing at 3:56, whats in the pipe ??

[@oliviacarter2917]

Lucas Pereira It’s a bleach solution. He's cleaning/disinfecting the handles.

[@lkcp10]

+Olivia Carter do you know what this solution might be exactly? Just bleach and water?! Might improve our methods to more efficient ones..

[@archiej6386]

@@lkcp10 it s disinfectant

[@timroth5034]

step 1: dont roe in such a shitty single

[@rube4495]

Tim Roth step two learn to spell

[@todorstankovic1111]

its a typpo you fucking dumbass