Thursday, Aug 2, 2012
Caroline Lind M.B.A. ’10 is in London with the United States Women’s Rowing Team, where she won her second consecutive Olympic gold medal. She and her teammates captured first place at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing.
by Meaghan Haugh and Sean Ramsden
During her time on Rider’s Lawrenceville campus, Caroline Lind M.B.A. ’10 was a bit of a celebrity in the College of Business Administration. Lind, 29, became a U.S. Olympic gold medalist after she and her U.S. Women’s Rowing teammates earned a first-place victory at the Shunyi Olympic Rowing-Canoeing Park at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing.
“I feel like I have been really blessed in my rowing career,” said Lind, a Greensboro, N.C., native who started rowing in high school at the Phillips Academy in Andover, Mass. “I was lucky to be in a group of 15 amazing athletes, who were strong, awesome women.”
After earning her Master of Business Administration from Rider in 2010, Lind has secured her hopes of medaling again — this time at the 2012 Olympics in London. During the finals on August 2, Lind and her teammates on the women's eight (with coxswain), captured the gold. The team finished in 6 minutes, 10.59 seconds.
Four summers ago, the U.S. women’s eight team brought home the country’s first gold medal in the event since 1984. The United States has continued to dominate the event since, winning gold at the 2009, 2010 and 2011 World Championships. They also broke a time record in the heats of the Lucerne stop of the 2012 World Rowing Cup Americans’ competition.
This year’s women’s eight team is much the same as in 2008, with Lind and teammates Erin Cafaro, Caryn Davies, Eleanor Logan, Susan Francia, and coxswain Mary Whipple reprising their seats from Beijing. Only Esther Lofgren, Meghan Musnicki, and Taylor Ritzel made their Olympic debuts in London. The United States and Canada qualified for the final of the women's eight by winning their heats Sunday. There the U.S. team won their heat in 6:14.68 seconds.
Lind, who graduated from Princeton University with a bachelor’s degree in Cultural Anthropology in 2006, said she understands how the world works from a humanities standpoint. An M.B.A., however, has allowed her to gain a fiscal understanding of the world. Lind told Rider magazine in 2009 that she would like to attend law school and pursue a career in discrimination law after the London Olympics, hoping to effect change as a discrimination lawyer.
“I want to impact people’s lives for the positive,” she added.
As an Olympic gold medalist, Lind is already doing just that by setting a good example for young children. Since returning from Beijing, she has shared her experiences with various audiences, including the girls’ swim team from her hometown and a 2nd-grade class.
“That’s the task I’m trying to embrace the most, Lind explained, “being a role model.”
Follow Caroline Lind during the 2012 Olympics on Twitter at @carolinelind12.
Rider home page photo credit: Ed Hewitt, Row2k Media