Eisser, Kalmoe Qualify for Tokyo at 2020 U.S. Olympic Team Trials – Rowing

Tracy Eisser (Fair Lawn, N.J./Cornell University) and Megan Kalmoe (St. Croix Falls, Wis./University of Washington) claimed the final two spots on the Olympic rowing team Saturday morning by winning the women's pair final at the third round of 2020 U.S. Olympic Team Trials – Rowing in West Windsor, N.J.

With the women's pair now selected, all nine U.S. boats that will race at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 have been set, pending United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee approval.

"It's been a very, very challenging time for every rowing athlete, and the U.S. is no exception," Kalmoe said. "We've been thinking about our international competitors this whole time, too, and how hard it's been with Covid for everybody and just hoping that we would get the chance at all to try to get back into international competition and see them and see what they've been up to and how they've managed the emotions and everything that's happened with the pandemic."

In the final, Eisser and Kalmoe were pushed in the first half of the race by the Craftsbury/USRowing Training Center-Princeton composite crew of Jenifer Forbes (Baltimore, Md/Northeastern University) and Erin Boxberger (Overland Park, Kan./University of Notre Dame) and the USTC boat of Molly Bruggeman (Dayton, Ohio/University of Notre Dame) and Vicki Opitz (Middleton, Wis./University of Wisconsin). But during the second half of the race, the veteran duo built a lead of more than a boat length of open water with 500 meters to go and continued to row away from the field in the final 500 meters.

At the line, Eisser and Kalmoe finished with a time of 7:06.27, more than six seconds ahead of Bruggeman and Opitz.

Today's victory qualified Kalmoe for her fourth Olympic Games. A 2012 Olympic bronze medalist in the women's quadruple sculls, Kalmoe raced the double sculls in Beijing in 2008 and again in the quadruple sculls in 2016 in Rio.

"It's pretty cool," said Kalmoe about making her fourth Olympic team. "Every time is different. I know that is a very cliché thing to say, that every Games is different, but this is very cool because of how exceptional the circumstances have been with Covid and the extra training year. This is my first time going in the pair. I would have really loved to have gone in the pair in Rio. That was kind of a disappointing situation for me personally, but to come back and make it happen for Tokyo is really cool, and I'm really happy to have done that."

Tokyo will be Eisser's second Olympics, having raced with Kalmoe in the quadruple sculls in Rio.

"Knowing that there's no guarantee that we were going to get there – to me it felt worth it because it's the thing I'm most passionate about," said Eisser about focusing on the pair. "I knew going in, pursuing this 100 percent, no matter what happens, I would be okay with the outcome if we won or if we didn't. Obviously, if we didn't win, I would be sad, but I made the choice knowing what the risk was and just saying, 'Okay, this is what I really want to do. This is where my heart is, and I'm just going to go after it."

The duo is no stranger to the pair, having won a silver medal in the event at the 2017 World Rowing Championships and then finishing fourth at the 2019 World Rowing Championships, qualifying the boat for the U.S. for Tokyo. Today's victory allowed them to claim the spots they secured for Team USA nearly two years ago.

"After having put in as many years into the sport and the training center and the team that I had at that point, adding an extra couple of months or an extra year, however you want to look at it, was sort of like 'Of course, I'm going to do that,'" said Kalmoe about deciding to continue training through the pandemic delay and trying to keep a positive attitude for the team. "I've committed that much time as it is, this is really important to me. It's important that the team knows that I'm excited about it, and hopefully other people on the team will look at it as an opportunity, too, if I let them know that I'm pumped on it, and we can do it and that I have faith in the team and the group and USRowing to get us through this."

Click here for the 2020 U.S. Olympic Team Trials – Rowing #3 coverage page for articles, photos, heat sheets and results. The full Olympic roster announcement, including coaches and staff, will be made on Tuesday, June 8.

The Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 will be held July 23-August 9, with rowing events slated to start on the morning of July 23. The Paralympic Games Tokyo 2020 are scheduled to take place August 24-September 5, with para rowing events starting August 27.

United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee

Founded in 1894 and headquartered in Colorado Springs, Colorado, the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee serves as both the National Olympic Committee and National Paralympic Committee for the United States. The USOPC is focused on protecting, supporting and empowering America's athletes, and is responsible for fielding U.S. teams for the Olympic, Paralympic, Pan American and Parapan American Games, and serving as the steward of the Olympic and Paralympic movements in the U.S. A federally chartered nonprofit corporation, the USOPC does not receive federal financial support (other than for select Paralympic military veteran programs) and is one of only four NOCs in the world that also manages Paralympic activities. More information is available at TeamUSA.org.

USRowing

USRowing is a nonprofit organization recognized by the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee as the governing body for the sport of rowing in the United States. USRowing has 83,000 individual members and 1,350 member organizations, offering rowing programs for all. USRowing receives generous support from the National Rowing Foundation and its corporate sponsors and partners.

About Princeton National Rowing Association

The Princeton National Rowing Association (PNRA), a 501(c)3 organization, operates the Finn M.W. Caspersen Rowing Center located on the shores of Mercer Lake, Mercer County Park in West Windsor, N.J. PNRA is dedicated to providing a venue where athletes of all ages, talents and backgrounds have the opportunity to develop their rowing abilities to their highest potential. As a United States Olympic Training Site, PNRA is home to the USRowing National Team, as well as scholastic and community rowing programs. PNRA runs the Mercer Junior and Masters Rowing Programs and conducts outreach activities seeking to expand the involvement in rowing in the greater Mercer County, N.J., region.