Bio
I was born in late August, 1983. My mother tells me that from our hospital room window in Minneapolis, we could look out on to the Mississippi River and see the men’s crew from the University of Minnesota practicing. Earlier that year, the University of Washington women had won their third consecutive National Title and were on their way to winning two more. Just under a year later, the United States Women’s 8+ would capture their first Olympic Gold over Romania at the Games in Los Angeles. I was born during a great time for American women’s rowing, but I didn’t come to realize it until twenty-five years later, following my return from Beijing as a delegate of the 2008 United States Olympic Team.
I came to rowing in the autumn of 2002 at the University of Washington. After spending my freshman year being decidedly “inactive” and “unathletic” and partying myself and my waistline into oblivion, I was looking to make a change. The program at Washington has a strong tradition of developing walk-on talent, and so I thought maybe rowing could be the positive change I needed in my life. Just the delicious challenge of having to learn a completely new skill set and being surrounded by talented, fiercely competitive women was enough to get me hooked, and though I don’t remember much of my novice year (except wanting to quit every day during winter training), I do know that there is no other place I would have rather grown up than on Lake Washington. Though I never found much competitive success with the Huskies, I formed some of the most important and lasting friendships of my life out of Conibear, and constantly look to the lessons I learned at Washington to guide my development as a world-class athlete.
I never envisioned a future for myself at the Elite level of the sport as a collegian. I progressed quickly with the program at Washington, with “good” ergs and “success” in the pairs. My performance was strong enough by my junior year to warrant an invitation to the 2005 U-23 camp, where I had the most miserable two months of my life, but was rewarded with a gold medal in the W4- in Amsterdam. Following that summer, I thought I’d move to Princeton with my “good” ergs and “successful” pair rowing and give it a go with the National Team. As it turned out, I was not actually good at erging or rowing pairs, and my performance on both counts earned me a nice comfortable spot at the bottom of the list each time results were posted. So I got to work.
I’m now in my sixth year training with the Team in Princeton. I made the switch from sweep to sculling in 2006 and am happier holding two oars now than I have ever been. My work over the past several years earned me spots on the 2008 Olympic Team, and 2009 World Championship Team in the women’s double sculls as well as the 2010 and 2011 women’s quadruple sculls. Interestingly, as I continue to work and train here, my role is slowly transforming from that of the eager new girl to the salty veteran (even at 28). This is both a fun challenge and slightly concerning, as the salty veterans were the crotchety older rowers we used to make fun of as the eager new girls–but I suppose some things never change.
Long Live the Dream,
Megan E. Kalmoe
2008 United States Olympian
2009, 2010, National Team Member
2011 Worlds Silver Medalist
2012 Olympic Hopeful
