Ted Mittet

Ted Mittet

Personal information
Full name	Theodore Peder Mittet
Born	December 23, 1941 (1941-12-23) (age 82) Seattle, Washington, U.S.
Medal record Men's rowing Representing United States Olympic Games 1964 Tokyo Coxless four

Theodore Peder "Ted" Mittet (born December 23, 1941) is an American rower who competed in the 1964 Summer Olympics.

Mittet was born in Seattle, Washington. In 1964 he was a crew member of the American boat which won the bronze medal in the coxless fours event.

INTRODUCTION

Theo “Ted” Mittet was an American competitive rower in the 1964 Tokyo Olympics and the 1966 Bled, Yugoslavia World Championships. Additionally, he rowed in multiple national competitions and coached crew at the university level.

EARLY LIFE

He grew up in Seattle, Washington where, as a child, he watched the University of Washington crew (UWC) practice on Lake Washington from the window of his family home. His father had rowed on the UWC during his university days and Theo was encouraged to follow his father’s example. While in high school he turned out for the Green Lake Crew (GLC) where he was mentored by coaches John Halberg and Frank Cunningham. Mittet said years later “...were it not for the persistent support and encouragement of Coach Halberg, I may never have realized my potential as an athlete…”

He later rowed for the University of Washington and subsequently the Lake Washington Rowing Club (LWRC). He studied architecture for four years at the University of Washington after which he transferred to the University of California, Berkeley, College of Environmental Design, from which he earned a B.A. degree. He later did graduate work at the Huxley College of Environmental Studies.

ROWING CAREER

Mittet rowed competitively from the age of sixteen until his early thirties. As a member of the Green Lake High School Crew, he competed in Hawaii against Iolani and Punahou high schools. He rowed at the University of Washington during his freshman year, prior to joining the LWRC. The LWRC became an unofficial Olympic Games training hub bringing Ivy League rowers to Seattle from Harvard, Yale, Purdue, Stanford and other universities with long rowing traditions. They were all coached under the tutelage of master shell builder and seasoned coach, Stan Pocock.

Mittet earned a seat in the four man shell without coxswain, stroked by esteemed Olympic and Pan-American Games gold medalist, Ted Nash. The combination of Ted Nash, Phil Dubrow, Dick Lyon, and Theo Mittet went on to win the Olympic trials in Orchard Beach, New York, which qualified them to go on to Tokyo. After winning the Olympic trials, the LWRC coxless four trained at Harvard under Harry Parker, the designated USA Olympic rowing coach for the 1964 Olympic Games.

Up to this point, the LWRC coxless four had won every race it ever entered with a comfortable margin. But during the first heat to get into the Olympic finals, with open water ahead of second place, Phil Dubrow in seat number three vomited blood and stopped rowing, the boat came to a complete stop as the other boats went by. The USA coxless four started again to catch and pass the pack. Then, Phil vomited blood again and the boat stopped, then started. Phil dedicated his last breath to getting across the finish line in second place. Phil was rushed to the hospital and told that he could no longer compete. This was a disaster which crushed the USA's hope for a coxless four gold medal. He would have to be replaced by Geoffrey Picard, the designated alternate from Harvard University.

By coming in second place in the finals heat, they qualified for the repechage heat which allowed them a second chance to compete for a lane in the Olympic finals. Picard’s Harvard rowing style was opposite in every way from Pocock’s LWRC style. With little time to train with Picard before the Olympic event, they struggled to pull themselves over the finish line for a bronze medal.

Mittet later went on to train with the Stanford University four without coxswain for the 1966 World Rowing Championships in Bled, Yugoslavia. Dick Lyon, John Keiley, Theo Mittet, and Geza Berger won the nationals, then suffered a similar fate as the Tokyo four. Geza Berger had a case of dysentery and a 104°F temperature during the race. They took ninth place.