Rower Meghan Musnicki, 41, will row in her fourth Olympic Games in Paris this summer following her selection to the group of 12 women who will make up the U.S. National Team’s women’s four and eight.
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SARASOTA, Fla. — Rower Meghan Musnicki, 41, will row in her fourth Olympic Games in Paris this summer following her selection to the group of 12 women who will make up the U.S. National Team’s women’s four and eight. USRowing will announce selected athletes on Sunday after administrative review, but Musnicki and others were informed of their selection before the weekend at Nathan Benderson Park, where selection camp, speed order trials, and training has been held throughout the year.
“It’s a privilege,” said Musnicki, who didn’t make the first three National Teams she tried for, but went on to win Olympic gold medals in 2012 and 2016. “My heart hurts for the women that just fell short this year.”
From 67 invitees, the USRowing coaching staff led by Josy Verdonkschot selected the athletes who will go to Paris in five U.S. boats already qualified for the Games—the women’s double and lightweight double, men’s and women’s fours, and the women’s eight—as well as the men’s eight and men’s and women’s quads, all three of which still need to qualify for the Games at the last-chance regatta in May. The selected quads also have to win the Olympic Trials, April 2-7, here at Nathan Benderson Park in Sarasota-Bradenton, Fla. The men’s eight does not have to go to Olympic Trials, USRowing decided, and will train at the University of Washington under Michael Callahan’s direction before heading to Europe.
From a large, talented pool of athletes, Verdonkschot and his staff had to make tough choices. Athletes not selected at the end of camp still have the opportunity to race at trials along with those not invited (or who turned down an invitation) to selection camp.
“It never gets easier,” said Verdonkschot of selection, “even if you know that many of them can go to trials. The only thing you can do is to make sure that you feel that you take the right decisions.”
“I think we’re in pretty good shape. I think we are building on last year and that was building on the first year. We are represented in all classes [men and women, sweep and sculling], which is great, but we’re not just participating, we’ve got competitive crews in all classes and that’s a step forward.
Musnicki agrees, “It’s a great group. Every group has its own identity. And it’s fun to see us grow and shape ourselves into one unit together.”
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