Michigan State University Athletics
Regan Wins Gold at World Championships
9/3/2011 12:00:00 AM | Women's Rowing
Sept. 3, 2011
East Lansing, Mich. - Former Michigan State rower Emily Regan (Buffalo, NY) captured a gold medal on Saturday morning in the United States women's four at the World Rowing Championships in Bled, Slovenia. It was Regan's first World Championship appearance, and her second gold medal when competing for the United States - she also won gold at the U-23 World Championships in the eight in 2010.
Complete World Rowing Championship results at www.worldrowing.com
All four rowers in the US four have collegiate backgrounds: Sara Hendershot (West Simsbury, Conn./Princeton), Kara Kohler (Clayton, Calif. /Cal) and Sarah Zelenka (Itasca, Ill. /Grand Valley). Regan and the Spartans regularly competed against Cal and Princeton at NCAA National Championship regattas.
"I am incredibly proud of Emily - not only personally, but also proud that our program has rowers competing at elite, world-class levels," said Michigan State head coach Matt Weise, who has guided the Spartans to multiple Big Ten titles and top-ten finishes at the NCAA Championships. "Emily has worked so very hard to earn a chance to compete at this level, and to see that work rewarded is so incredibly special."
The US, which had earned the seeded lanes in the Friday heat, was second to the Netherlands after the opening 500 meters, with Australia in third. Italy and China were left battling for fourth and fifth in the second 500, with open water between those countries and the top three crews. The US moved on the Netherlands in the second 500, and owned about a two-seat lead over the former leaders and a half-length over the Australians. Australia moved over the Netherlands in the third 500, turning a two-seat deficit into a half-length lead as the crews entered the final 500. Meanwhile, the US maintained its lead, and as Australia increased its margin over the Netherlands to nearly three-quarters of a length at the finish, the Red, White and Blue held off the Australians to claim gold.
Regan, who entered the MSU rowing program as a walk-on in the fall of 2006, was the Big Ten's Athlete of the Year and a First Team All-American in 2010, and she left MSU with three gold medals in the varsity eight at the Big Ten Championships. She immediately reported to the US U-23 camp after the NCAA Championships her senior year, and has trained with the US team since. In addition to her gold medal in the U-23 World Championships in the eight in 2010, she was a member of the gold medal-winning women's four at the 2011 Senior World Championship Trials.
2011 World Rowing ChampionshipsBled, SloveniaSeptember 3, 2011
Womens Four: FINAL
1 USA 1:35.19 (2) 3:12.67 (1) 4:52.09 (1) 6:30.30 3Sarah ZELENKA, Kara KOHLER, Emily Regan, Sara HENDERSHOT2 AUS 1:35.64 (3) 3:14.23 (3) 4:53.47 (2) 6:31.18 5Peta WHITE, Renee CHATTERTON, Pauline FRASCA, Kate HORNSEY3 NED 1:34.90 (1) 3:13.84 (2) 4:55.16 (3) 6:34.06 1Wianka VAN DORP, Olivia VAN ROOIJEN, Elisabeth HOGERWERF, Femke DEKKER4 CHN 1:38.30 (5) 3:19.40 (5) 5:02.56 (4) 6:44.08 4Meiling SUN, Zhengping SUN, Hong LIN, Yanjie DING5 ITA 1:36.74 (4) 3:18.18 (4) 5:03.21 (5) 6:46.57 2Laura BASADONNA, Alessandra PATELLI, Gaia PALMA, Silvia MARTIN
