NEXT Boatworks is pleased to announce the most recent addition of Jim Dietz OLY to our Advisory Committee. 

James William Dietz obtained his education at Northeastern University, and had a very long rowing career, lasting from 1967 (when he won gold at the 1967 World Rowing Junior Championships in Ratzeburgin single sculls) until he retired from competitive rowing in 1983. He started at Pan American Games in 1967, 1975, 1979, and 1983. He competed in single sculls at the 1971 European Rowing Championships (sixth place) and again two years later in 1973 (eleventh). He competed at World Rowing Championships in 1970, 1974, 1975, and in 1979. 

He competed at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich in the single sculls and came fifth. He went to the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal and came seventh in the single sculls. He made the team for the 1980 Summer Olympics but did not travel to Moscow due to the boycott initiated by the United States. 

Dietz later worked as a rowing coach, including for US national teams. He was the head coach of the University of Massachusetts (Amherst) women’s rowing team from 1996 to 2019.  He continues to row, even after knee replacements, and was an early adopter of coastal rowing, regularly racing around Cape Ann (Blackburn Challenge) and rowing for fun in Cape Cod. 

Recognized internationally for his coaching ability, Dietz was inducted into the National Rowing Hall of Fame in March of 2010 and was also elected as the Vice Chair to the Board of Directors of US Rowing in February of 2010. 

Dietz spent nine years as the head coach of the Coast Guard Academy crew program (1985-1994). Though his primary responsibilities were with the men's heavyweight eight, he was also in charge of the overall program, which included four assistant coaches and more than 90 student-athletes.

Dietz's crew experience began in 1964, when he competed for the New York Athletic Club in all classes of rowing and sculling events. As a high school student, he won all United States and Canadian Scholastic championships in single and double sculls from 1964-67 and won the first Junior World Championship in single sculls at Ratzeburg, Germany, in 1967.

Throughout his competitive years, Dietz won 45 United States and 37 Canadian national championship titles. He was a member of almost every U.S. National Team from 1967-1983, including U.S. Olympic entries in 1972, 1976 and 1980. In addition, Dietz captured medals at the Pan American Games in 1967, 1975, 1979 and 1983 while he was also a member of seven World Championship teams.

A 1972 graduate of Northeastern University with a Bachelor of Science degree in marketing, Dietz is an inductee into the Northeastern University Hall of Fame as well as the New York Athletic Club (NYAC) Hall of Fame. A Veteran Award winner of the NYAC and a Power Ten Award winner of Manhattan, Dietz also earned the prestigious Athlete of the Quarter Century honor for his past performances at the Head of the Charles Regatta.

Since 1976, Dietz has been involved with the United States Olympic Committee and in 1988 and 1992 he served as the U.S. Olympic Quad Coach in Seoul, South Korea, and Barcelona, Spain, respectively.

In 1987, Dietz founded the Thames River Sculls, a non-profit sculling center. Over the years, members of this program have won numerous titles at the U.S. Scholastic Championship and U.S.R.A. Elite Nationals. Several members have gone on to race for the United States on World and Olympic teams. The Thames River/Pre-Elite women's crews have participated in the Nation's Cup Regatta (under 23 World Championships) winning the 1996 meet in Belgium.

Dietz coached the 2000 U.S. Olympic Team in Sydney, Australia, taking the bronze medal in the women's lightweight double. In 1999, he led the U.S. National Team, taking medals at the Pan American Games and the World Rowing Championships. In 2003, his women's lightweight double finished fourth at the World Championship in Milan, Italy.

He recently retired from the board of US Rowing, having served X years, and now runs All-American Rowing Camp, a program bringing coaches and rowers together nationwide. 

We are excited to have Jim on board with us, as he brings multiple dimensions to our team, from a regulatory and racing background, as well as firsthand knowledge of the coastal rowing scene. We look forward to his insight in guiding us forward, backwards!