His talent on the water spoke for itself and earned Strotbeck a spot on Marietta College's rowing team his freshman year.
After training intensely throughout the winter of 1983, Strotbeck made the 1983 Pan Am team rowing for the Vesper Boat Club.
There was initially no interest in finding a spot on the team for Strotbeck who had few competitive accolades and hailed from Division-III Marietta College.
However, US Rowing, the sports governing body, looked outside the United States for the coach of Team 1984, in order to achieve better performance.
Strotbeck competed over the next six years for the US National team at the 1988 Olympics, World Championships, Pan Ams and numerous European regattas.