The United States Olympic women's eight has been named the 2008 World Rowing Female Crew of the Year, the international rowing federation, FISA, announced on Saturday.
The crew of coxswain Mary Whipple (Sacramento, Calif.), Caryn Davies (Ithaca, N.Y.), Caroline Lind (Greensboro, N.C.), Susan Francia (Abington, Pa.), Anna Cummins (Bellevue, Wash.), Eleanor Logan (Boothbay Harbor, Maine), Anna Goodale (Camden, Maine), Lindsay Shoop (Charlottesville, Va.) and Erin Cafaro (Modesto, Calif.), which became the first U.S. boat to win Olympic gold in the event since 1984, beat out Bulgarian single sculler Rumyana Neykova and New Zealand's double sculls crew of Caroline and Georgina Evers-Swindell to win the award. The boat was honored during the gala dinner at the World Rowing Coaches Conference on Saturday, November 8, in Paris, France.
Norway's Olaf Tufte received the 2008 World Rowing Male Crew of the Year, Poland's Aleksander Wojciechowski won the 2008 World Rowing Coach of the Year and China's Zhang Qing, head of Beijing Olympic Organizing Committee (BOCOG) International Relations, received the 2008 World Rowing Distinguished Services to Rowing.