Sarasota native helps Team USA take bronze in men’s eight rowing

Video above: Jimmy Dean, Clark’s father, speaks with WFLA’s J.B. Biunno and Olympian Brooke Bennett about U.S. rowing.

SARASOTA, Fla. (WFLA) — Sarasota native Clark Dean helped bring home a bronze medal for Team USA in the men’s eight rowing final on Saturday.

The 24-year-old rowed with Chris Carlson, Peter Chatain, Rielly Milne, Henry Hollingsworth, Christian Tabash, Nick Rusher, Evan Olson and Pieter Quinton in Paris.

The men secured the U.S.’s first medal of the day and Team USA’s second medal in the rowing regatta, after the men’s four took home gold on Thursday.

Team USA was passed by Great Britain, who took gold, and the Netherlands, who took silver.

On Thursday, Dean’s father, Jimmy, spoke with WFLA’s J.B. Biunno and Olympian Brooke Bennett ahead of Saturday’s big race.

“I think the biggest misconception is that it’s like rowing a row boat or a canoe,” Jimmy Dean said. “It’s like piloting a jet plane that’s going through the water. Here’s a boat that’s 18 inches wide and it’s carrying a ton-and-a-half of human flesh and it moves at an incredible pace. And if one rower is off one micron of a moment, everything is off-kilter. These eight gentlemen must execute in a fashion that’s almost un-human.”