The women's double sculls duo of Ellen Tomek (Flint, Mich.) and Megan Kalmoe (St. Croix Falls, Wis.) became the first rowers to be nominated to the 2008 U.S. Olympic Team, pending United States Olympic Committee approval, USRowing announced on Tuesday.
Tomek and Kalmoe earned a spot on the team by winning the 2008 National Selection Regatta #2 in late April and then finishing fourth this past weekend at the 2008 Rowing World Cup Regatta in Lucerne, Switzerland. The first-time Olympians officially accepted their nominations to the team yesterday.
Tomek, a 2006 graduate of the University of Michigan, is now a two-time senior national team member. She stroked the women's quadruple sculls crew to a sixth-place finish at the 2007 FISA World Rowing Championships in Munich, Germany. She also represented the U.S. in the women's pair at the 2006 FISA World Under 23 Championships, finishing fourth.
Kalmoe, a 2006 graduate of the University of Washington, won a gold medal in the women's four at the 2005 FISA World Under 23 Championships. This will be her first senior national team.
The rest of the Olympic rowing squad will be named in three stages later this month. The women's single sculls, women's pair, men's pair and men's double sculls will be selected at the 2008 U.S. Olympic Team Trials - Rowing scheduled for June 9-13 in West Windsor, N.J. Six crews including the men's four, lightweight men's four, men's quadruple sculls, women's quadruple sculls, men's eight and women's eight are camp selected boats. These crews will be named by their respective national team coaches on or before June 27.
The U.S. has yet to qualify three boats for the 2008 Olympic Games - the men's single sculls, lightweight women's double sculls and lightweight men's double sculls. USRowing will send a representative in each of those boat categories to the 2008 Olympic Qualification Regatta scheduled for June 15-18 in Poznan, Poland. If the crews finish high enough, they will represent the U.S. at the Olympic Games in Beijing. If they do not finish high enough, the U.S. will not send a boat in that category.
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