Princeton University Athletics
Coppola, Lind Lead Six Princeton Rowers To Beijing For 2008 Summer Olympics
June 25, 2008 | Heavyweight Rowing
Carolina Lind led the Princeton varsity open eight to the 2006 NCAA championship. Steve Coppola led the heavyweight varsity eight to the 2006 Eastern championship. Both have experienced international success as well, but both will get the chance for the ultimate prize this summer. Coppola and Lind are among six Princeton graduates who will represent the Orange and Black while wearing their own national colors at the 2008 Summer Olympics. Simon Carcagno has been chosen as an alternate for the U.S. Olympic team.
Coppola has been selected to the U.S. men's 8+, while Lind will be a member of the U.S. women's 8+. Paul Teti '01, entering his third Olympic competition, will be in the U.S. 4-, while Sam Loch was named to the Australian 8+ in February. A 2004 Olympian, Andreanne Moran will compete in the Canadian women's 8+, while Lia Pernell '03 was selected to the U.S. women's quad.
Coppola, a multiple-time national team member and part of the gold medal-winning U.S. team at the 2005 FISA World Rowing Championships, was the driving force in the powerful Class of 2006. As freshmen, both Coppola and Loch were members of both the novice IRA national championship squad and the Temple Cup winners at the Royal Henley Regatta. They would lead Princeton to a 2005 Head of the Charles victory, the first for a U.S. collegiate crew in 22 years, as well as the Eastern and Ivy League title and an IRA silver medal. While Coppola headed off to the national team that summer, Loch went back to the Henley, where Princeton won the 2006 Ladies Cup. That marked the first time a Princeton rower won two Henley titles since 1956-57.
Lind led Princeton to the 2004 and 2006 Eastern and Ivy League championships, as well as the dominant 2006 NCAA title at nearby Mercer Lake. She also had a positive Henley experience, as she led Princeton to the Remenham Cup finals at the 2004 competition. Lind was a multiple-time All-America honoree and a 2006 recipient of the Von Kienbusch Award, given to the top senior female student-athlete at Princeton. Morin was also part of those championship teams, as well as a 2004 Olympian. Morin rowed in the fourth seat of the 2006 national championship squad, while Lind served as the stroke.
Paul Teti will enter his third Olympics for the U.S. team. He rowed in the third seat for the lightweight 4- during both the 2000 and 2004 Olympics and helped the U.S. to sixth- and ninth-place finishes, respectively. Pernell, a multiple-time medalist at Sprints, qualified for her first Olympic team. She does have significant international experience in both junior national and senior worlds competitions.