Chelsea Smith (far left) and the bronze medal-winning U.S. quadruple sculls team
EDMOND (Oct. 24) – Central Oklahoma graduate assistant rowing coach Chelsea Smith won two bronze medals while representing the United States at the 2011 Pan American Games last week in Guadalajara, Mexico.
Smith competed in the lightweight women's double sculls and women's quadruple sculls, finishing behind Mexico and Cuba in the doubles with a 7:18.8 clocking. Smith and her quadruple team used a second-half rally to pull out a third-place finish in 6:38, just four seconds behind winter Argentina and a second back of runner-up Canada.
The Pan Am Games serve as pre-Olympic competition for countries in South, Central and North America, with many countries using placement in these games to qualify competitors for the Olympics. The 2012 Olympics will be held in London, England.
Smith was one of the six team members of the Pan Am Rowing team to come home with two medals. She is a first-time national team member and is current resident athlete of USRowing's Oklahoma City Training Center.
Smith is in her second year on the UCO coaching staff as the graduate assistant while pursuing her master's of science in exercise science. She was a four-year rowing standout at Drake, graduating there in 2010 with a bachelor's in biochemistry.
