Days after Nick Mead ’17 crossed the finish line with Team USA’s men’s coxless four rowing squad, winning a gold medal for the United States, he woke up on the wrong side of the bed.
“[That morning,] I woke up early and honestly, I didn’t really want to go [out],” Mead told the Daily Princetonian.
Mead and his fellow rowers were on their way to a Parisian cafe to speak with members of the press — but they weren’t exactly on time.
“My teammates and I were like 20 minutes late,” he said. “When we finally got there, Team USA mic’d us up and told us that they wanted to record a normal conversation, so my teammates and I were just sitting there chatting.”
Mead’s teammate, Justin Best, began the conversation naturally, mentioning their accomplishments in their gold medal winning race, as well as the accomplishments of 14-time Olympic medalist Katie Ledecky. Then, smiling, he revealed that Mead would have the honor of being Team USA’s flag bearer alongside Ledecky in the closing ceremony, becoming the first American rower to serve in the role.
But before Mead would get the honor of carrying the stars and stripes for the United States, he had other business to attend to.
“I had no idea what to say, but the first thing I thought of was that I hadn’t gotten a haircut in like three weeks, so, I needed to get a haircut,” he said, laughing.
Mead had missed the barber shop for those three weeks, and for good reason — he was busy making Olympic history for the red, white, and blue. On Aug. 1, Nick Mead and the men’s coxless four rowing squad secured first place with a time of 5:49.03. That result broke the United States’ 64-year drought of gold medals in that race.
Mead’s rise to Olympic glory and brush with Olympic giant Ledecky followed his storied career rowing for the Orange and Black — but his path to Princeton was not guaranteed.
“I was not the top recruit in my class,” the two-time Olympian and Princeton alumnus told the ‘Prince.’ “I think I knew, coming into Princeton, that I’d have to get a lot better.”
And he did. During his senior year in 2017, he was named a captain of Princeton’s varsity rowing team and earned Intercollegiate Rowing Association (IRA) All-Academic honors — though his post-grad plans were undecided.
Princeton rowers share a storied tradition of success competing on the international stage after graduation. 43 Princeton rowing alumni have gone on to compete in the Olympic games — far ahead of Princeton Track and Field, the next highest total of Olympic sports, that produced just 28 Olympians. Despite this undeniable history of excellence, Mead remained unsure as to whether or not he would compete following graduation.
“There are some people who always know they want to try for the Olympics,” Mead told the ‘Prince,’ “But I don’t think I ever believed in myself as much as the people around me believed in me.”
At the end of his senior year, head coach Greg Hughes sat Mead down to discuss his plans.
“He basically said, ‘you know, you should at least try out for the [national] team this summer, and if you don’t make it, then you’re right back where you are right now.’ He told me that he thinks I’d regret not having at least tried.”
The summer after graduation in 2017, Mead tried out for, and made, the U.S. senior national team. It wasn’t long before Mead found success. At the 2017 World Championships in Bradenton, Fla., Mead won silver as part of the U.S. men’s eight team.
Though, for Mead, the transition from college rowing to rowing for Team USA was not all that easy.
“I think the main difference is in the day-to-day preparation — you just have to train so much more after college,” Mead explained. “We probably trained eight or nine times a week in college, but at the senior level, we train at a minimum 14 times per week.”
In 2021, Mead made his Olympic debut in Tokyo, rowing in the men’s eight boat. The team finished in fourth, narrowly missing out on a medal. His loss came amid a difficult year for Team USA rowing, as the Tokyo Olympics marked the first games since 1908 that the United States failed to medal in rowing.
Nonetheless, Mead said he was proud of his performance, calling it “a win and accomplishment in itself.” Mead became one of 154 Princeton students to have made an Olympic appearance.
After Tokyo, however, he had a larger goal.
“When I decided to come back and rejoin the team in 2022, I wanted to see if I could make the team for Paris,” Mead told the ‘Prince.’ “This time, my mentality from the beginning was that I was coming back to win, and just making the team wouldn’t make me happy if we weren’t successful in 2024.”
After two long years of tireless preparation and stiff competition, Mead and his teammates at last reached the pinnacle of their sport, clinching an Olympic medal and breaking a decades-long drought for Team USA men’s rowing in this event.
“The thought of winning the Olympics is something that you go to bed thinking about in the back of your mind, but it’s almost like you never want to speak it out loud or tell other people,” he told the ‘Prince.’ “So, when it finally happens, and you know you’re across that finish line, it’s just like the biggest weight of your whole life [is] off of your shoulders.”
Mead’s contribution to Team USA’s men’s rowing earned him a nomination to be the nation’s flag bearer in the closing ceremonies of the games.
“I knew I’d been nominated because I submitted some sort of written statement describing why I thought I should be flag bearer,” he said, “But I 100 percent did not think I would ever win the vote [because] there are just so many athletes with so many more medals and who are more accomplished.”
But Mead did end up winning the confidence of his fellow Olympians, and on Aug. 11, his duties as flag bearer were called to action.
As hosts of the forthcoming 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, Team USA was the final team to enter the stadium for the closing ceremonies.
“Katie [Ledecky] and I were in the back of line, and we were walking into the stadium to be on NBC with Jimmy Fallon and Mike Tirico,” he recounted. “It was so loud — it’s like 80,000 people in there, and we were just trying our best to answer Jimmy Fallon’s questions,” he said, laughing.
Team USA flagbearers Katie Ledecky and Nick Mead take us inside the Closing Ceremony with Mike Tirico and Jimmy Fallon.
— NBC Olympics & Paralympics (@NBCOlympics) August 11, 2024
📺 #ParisOlympics on NBC and Peacock pic.twitter.com/g2hxqlLJ0q
Even for an Olympian as successful as Mead, he admitted he still was starstruck from meeting some of his fellow athletes.
“I mean, meeting Katie [Ledecky] obviously, was like, ‘Wow,’” he laughed, “But I also met Michael Phelps and saw the gymnasts, which was so cool.”
His favorite interactions, however, were catching up with his fellow Tigers.
“There were so many Princeton athletes over [in Paris,] and that was awesome. We got a photo with most of us, both current and alumni, in front of the Olympic rings in the village. It makes me really proud to be an alum.”
Mead shows no signs of slowing down, neither in his Olympic career nor as a member of Team USA. He hopes his path — from uncertainty about his professional rowing career to having a laser-focus on winning a medal — will continue to Los Angeles in four years. Regardless of if he will win Olympic glory a second time in L.A., he has already cemented his place in rowing and Olympic history at Paris 2024.
“It really is the greatest experience you’ll ever have competing,” he said, “It’s a really, really beautiful experience.”
Lily Pampolina is a staff Sports writer and staff Audience creator for the ‘Prince.’
Please send any corrections to corrections[at]dailyprincetonian.com.
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