Davies Celebrates World Championship

Harvard junior Caryn Davies could not have been happier to win a gold medal Sunday at the 2002 FISA World Rowing Championships in Seville, Spain, as part of the U.S. women’s eight.

“After we won, I thought nothing can be better than this,” Davies said.

The U.S. boat clocked in at 6:04.25 to finish just 0.85 seconds ahead of the crew from Australia and 0.94 seconds ahead of the German team.

The close race took so much effort that Davies had to fight the urge to vomit on the medal stand, but she maintained a composed image.

Last weekend was Davies’ first competition as part of the senior national team. She won gold in the women’s four and finished fourth in the women’s eight at the 2001 FISA Junior World Championships. Davies also set an American junior record on the ergometer at the 2000 World Indoor Rowing Championships.

Even in the wake of her huge victory, Davies has already turned her attention to her next goal.

“After we won, our coach talked to us about looking to the future,” Davies said. “I’m really looking forward to the 2004 Olympics now,” she said.

It was the U.S.’s first medal in the women’s eight since a silver medal performance in 1999 and its first gold since 1995.

“It feels unbelievable,” Davies’ boatmate, Ali Cox, told the Associated Press. “It makes me excited for the future. It makes me proud of my teammates. It makes me proud to be an American.”

For the championships, the U.S. took home seven medals total: one gold, two silver, and four bronze.

While Davies’ was the only boat to strike gold, Harvard was well represented at the event, as senior Mike Blomquist and recent graduates Autour Samsonov ’02, Pat Todd ’02 and Michelle Guerrette ’02 were all in action for the U.S. National Team.

Blomquist and the Russian-born Samsonov finished sixth in the men’s four, eight seconds behind gold-medal winning Britain.

The Championships marked Blomquist’s second appearance on the U.S. senior national team and Samsonov’s first. Blomquist finished sixth in the same event last year and finished seventh in the same race at the 1999 Junior World Championships.

Todd’s boat finished fourth in the men’s lightweight ‘B’ race to take tenth place overall. Todd stroked the Harvard varsity eight to gold in the 2001 National Championship regatta.

A two-time senior national team member, Guerette was women’s alternate to the U.S. National team. She finished fourth at the 2001 FISA Championships in the women’s eight.