Setting a world record in a semi-final heat at the Olympic games in Athens, former Ohio State rower Bryan Volpenhein must have known he and his fellow rowing teammates were destined to strike Olympic gold in the finals.

On Sunday, the U.S. men’s rowing team did fulfill its destiny as it sailed past the Netherlands’ team with a time of 5:42.48 – winning the first gold for the men’s eight-member rowing team since 1964. This came after the record-setting performance by the U.S. rowers in the semi-finals where Volpenhein and his teammates shattered the world record with a time of 5:19.85.

“We knew that they were coming and that they would have a good sprint,” Volpenhein said about the Dutch rowers the U.S. team beat by 1.27 seconds for the gold, according to an official Olympics press release.

Currently Volpenhein attends classes at Rutgers University but plans to re-enroll at OSU to attain a graduate degree in philosophy. He was named the 2002 U.S. Rowing Athlete of the Year by the coaches of the 2002 World Championship team – despite not lifting a rowing oar until his freshman year at OSU back in 1994.

In 1997, Volpenhein left the OSU crew club to begin training at the U.S. Rowing’s Princeton Training Center. Practice made perfect as Volpenhein rowed for the underachieving 2000 U.S. men’s Olympic rowing team – a group that won the World Championship in 1998 and 1999 but finished a disappointing fifth in 2000 Olympics in Sydney, Australia.

Being part of the rowing team that ended a 40-year gold drought will etch Volpenshein’s name in the Olympic record books. Coach Mike Meti, quoted from an official Olympic press release, said the weather opened the door for the U.S. rowing team to end the long drought.

“We knew we had to end a 40 year drought in this race,” Meti said in the press release. “Today the conditions were more suited to the crew. They had a good start – the plan was to have a clean, good start and to hold everyone in the first 200 meters. We planned to attack after 600 meters.”

Along with Volpenhein, firefighter Jason Read rowed to gold for the U.S. men’s rowing team. Read was one of the firefighters who performed his duties in New York City during the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

“I think that my colleagues will be happy for the country and my boat mates,” Read said in an official Olympic press release. “There is no greater privilege than to represent America during this time.”

Read said he was proud to be part of the Olympic festivities.

“It’s a privilege to be up here and to be part of the Olympic spirit,” Read said in the official press release.

Volpenhein has been part of the Olympic spirit and dream for more than seven years. From 1997 to 2003, he was a member of the U.S. National Team and he was a member of the World Championships Team five times.