Carol Brown had never rowed before she joined the first women’s crew team at Princeton University in 1971. Three years later, she made the U.S. National Team at the World Championships, where she and her teammates raced to a fifth-place finish, the first U.S. women’s boat to reach a world championships final. At the 1975 World Rowing Championships, Brown won a silver medal with the women’s eight. In 1976, Brown was a crew member of the American boat that won an Olympic bronze medal in the eight-event, the first time women's rowing was on the Olympic program.
She went on to win a gold medal at the Royal Henley Regatta in 1981 in the coxed fours, the first time women had raced at Henley. Brown has received numerous national rowing awards and was inducted into the US Rowing Hall of Fame in 1991 and again in 2016. She is currently Vice President, US Olympians and Paralympians Association, the USOC athlete alumni organization. She also competes in Triathlon-Sprint-Age Group 65-59. In 2019, Brown was National Champion and placed 4th at ITU World Championships in Lausanne, Switzerland.
Here Carol talks about how she mentors others through the life lessons she learned from rowing:
