The eight-woman team finished second in the first heat and headed to the repechage with a chance to qualify for the final
WE’RE ON THE ROAD TO PARIS THIS MORNING, THE COUNTDOWN TO THE OPENING CEREMONY OF THE 2024 SUMMER OLYMPICS IS UNDERWAY, AND A WOMAN OBTAINING HER TICKET TO PARIS IN A POSITION THAT REQUIRES ONE OF THE TOUGHEST SKILLS OF ALL: COMMUNICATION. OUR CO-HOST, MEGAN MITCHELL, HAS HER JOURNEY TO LEAD TEAM USA TO VICTORY ACROSS THE POND. MEGAN. YEAH? HELLO GUYS. SO NINA CASTAGNA THINKS OF HERSELF AS THE CONDUCTOR OF AN ORCHESTRA WHEN SHE’S ON THE WATER. BUT WHAT SHE COULDN’T HAVE DIRECTED WAS JUST HOW FAR SHE WOULD GO. IN A SPORT SHE KNEW NOTHING ABOUT BEFORE TRYING IT IN HIGH SCHOOL. A LIFELONG DREAM COME TRUE, OH MY GOD, WHEN I WAS A KID AND I WAS ASKED WHAT I WOULD LIKE TO BE, I WOULD LIKE TO BE AN OLYMPIAN, BUT I THOUGHT I WOULD LIKE TO BE A SWIMMER RATHER THAN IN THE WATER. NINA CASTAGNA. LAUNCHES OVER THE WATER. I WENT TO MY FIRST PRACTICE TO START ROWING AND THEY LOOKED AT ME. I WAS 410 MM LIKE THIS LITTLE KID AND THEY SAID, YOU’RE GOING TO BE A COWSMAN. HER POSITION IS LIKE AN EXTENSION OF THE COACH. SHE’S IN CHARGE OF THE BOAT IN FRONT OF THE EIGHT OARS. STRATEGIC. SHE ORCHESTRATES EACH OF THEM TO CONTROL. THE STEERING SPEED, THE TIME AND THE FLUIDITY OF THE BOAT. SHE USES ME AS AN EXAMPLE WHEN I SEE THE SPEED OF THE BOATS CHANGE, WHETHER IT’S ON MY DEVICE OR HOW THE BOAT IS MOVING ON THE WATER, THEN I CAN TELL EVERYONE HOW BAD A CHANGE YOU JUST MADE. OH, MEGAN JUST BENT IT A LITTLE MORE. WE JUST LOST TWO SPLITS. WE’RE GOING FASTER. SEE IF WE CAN GO WITH MEGAN NOW. SHE SAYS IT’S ALL ABOUT TRUST. AND HER TEAMMATES AND HER COACHES HAVE TRUSTED HER ENOUGH TO BE THEIR BOAT LEADER FOR THE 2024 PARIS OLYMPICS. SO THE FACT THAT I’M HERE NOW FEELS PRETTY SURREAL, THAT THIS IS ACTUALLY HAPPENING. IT’S PRETTY CRAZY. NEXT STEPS. SHE’S GOING TO BUILD THAT TRUST WITH HER TEAMMATES OVER THE NEXT MONTHS OF TRAINING. AND THEN WE’RE GOING BACK TO ERBA, ITALY FOR ANOTHER CAMP BEFORE PARIS, WHERE WE’RE GOING TO COMPETE IN THE OLYMPICS. PHEW! THAT’S A WEIRD THING TO SAY. NINA SAYS HER MOM AND DAD HAVE GIVEN SO MUCH TO SUPPORT HER IN THIS DREAM, SO SHE’S GOING TO PARIS. SHE’S COMPETING ON THE BIGGEST STAGE AND SHE JUST SAYS IT’S A TESTIMONY TO THEM TOO. OF COURSE. WHAT DO THEY SAY? IT TAKES A VILLAGE, RIGHT? YEAH. AND THEY’RE ALL ROWING IN FRONT OF HER. LISTENING. AND THAT’S EXACTLY WHAT IT IS. YOU THINK ABOUT THE STRATEGY THAT MAKES PEOPLE GO FASTER, SHE SAYS, LISTEN IN HIGH SCHOOL, A COWSMAN’S STRATEGY IS LIKE, DO IT. YOU’LL BE GREAT BY THE TIME YOU GET TO THE BIG LEAGUE. IT’S LITERALLY LIKE THE SMALLEST MOVEMENT OF AN ARM THAT SAYS, HEY, YOU KNOW, THIS REALLY WORKS. LET’S ALL TRY TO TAKE IT BACK. TOTALLY STRATEGIC. LIKE I WAS JUST TELL YOU, SHE’S SO CALM AND THAT’S WHAT YOU NEED. SHE HAS TO BE. AND THEY ALL HAVE TO. TRUST HER. RIGHT? TRUST IS A REALLY BIG THING. OH, YEAH. MEGAN. SO COOL. YEAH. THANKS FOR BRINGING IT TO US. AND IT GIVES US SOMEONE TO CARE FOR, WHICH, I MEAN, I KNOW THAT ALWAYS MAKES THINGS MORE FUN. HILLS, GRASS. IT’S SO COOL. SO REMEMBER, WLWT NEWS 5 IS THE ONE AND ONLY CHANNEL FOR ALL THINGS OLYMPIC GAMES. THE OPENING CEREMONY IS FRIDAY, JULY 26TH. WE’LL HAVE. A CREW THAT WILL BRING YOU THE LATEST NEWS AS COMPETITION STARTS. STAY WITH US HERE OR
The eight-woman team finished second in the first heat and headed to the repechage with a chance to qualify for the final
The U.S. women’s eight rowing team failed to clinch a spot in the final race this weekend, but still has a chance before their Olympics end. The boat — which features two local athletes — finished second in its heat, seven seconds behind reigning world champions Romania. In finishing second, the U.S. rowed a time of 6:19.00, the fourth-fastest of the seven nations competing in the heats. Part of the boat’s crew was Dayton native Molly Bruggeman, a University of Notre Dame graduate. The boat’s cox is Walnut Hills graduate and former University of Washington cox Nina Castagna. The U.S. still has a chance to solidify its spot in the final race in Thursday’s repechage, where the top four boats from the U.S., Italy, Australia, Canada and Denmark will advance. The boat that finishes fifth will be eliminated from the competition. The winners of the repechage will join the winners of the two heats on Monday morning – Great Britain and Romania – in the final. The final will take place on Saturday, August 3.
The U.S. women’s eight rowing team failed to clinch a spot in the final race this weekend but still has a chance before their Olympics end.
The boat – which includes two local athletes – finished second in its heat, seven seconds behind reigning world champions Romania.
In finishing second, the United States rowed in 6:19.00, the fourth-fastest time of the seven nations that competed in the heats.
Molly Bruggeman, a Dayton native and University of Notre Dame graduate, was part of the boat’s crew. Nina Castagna, a Walnut Hills graduate and former University of Washington coxswain, is at the helm.
The United States still has a chance to solidify its spot in Thursday’s final repechage race, where the top four boats from the United States, Italy, Australia, Canada and Denmark will qualify.
The boat finishing fifth will be eliminated from the competition.
The winners of the repechage will join the winners of the two heats on Monday morning – Great Britain and Romania – in the final. The final will take place on Saturday, August 3.
