Hello!  I am so excited to be part of In the Arena and eager to get involved in the community!  I hope to add something not only to the Madison community, but also to the larger ITA community.  As the first ever rower on the Arena Roster, more of you will get to learn about the mysterious sport that I do, and I hope to learn more about the sports that the other ITA athletes do!

As I write this, I am on a plane leaving Oklahoma City.  I was down there for a couple of days rowing out of the local boathouse with Jen, a 2008 Olympian. Not only were we there to get some good rowing in, we got to see the plans for the new US Olympic Training Center that is just starting up in Oklahoma City.  It’s going to be a facility for a variety of sports: kayaking, rowing, archery, and volleyball. There are lots of plans in the works, from a world-class boathouse (complete with an altitude chamber for better training!) to an athlete village and even a wind wall along the rowing race course to keep the water calm.

While we were there, Jen and I gave a talk to the local high school rowing club about how each of us got started with rowing and what some of our experiences at the high school, college, and national team level have been like.  It was a great opportunity to connect with the community there and to be an inspiration to the up-and-coming athletes. A couple of them even came up to me afterward and told me how special it was to meet me and hear me speak.  I hope that ITA will give me the opportunity to inspire more youth like the ones in Oklahoma!