Caryn Davies

Hobbies

Sailing, horse riding, downhill skiing, ballroom and swing dancing. (FISA, 12 Jun 2003)

Occupation

Athlete, Student

Education

Law, Psychology - Harvard University [2005] / Columbia Law School [2013], United States

Language(s) spoken

English

Club name

US Rowing Training Center, Princeton, NJ, USA

Coach

Tom Terhaar [national] (USA) (usrowing.org, 23 Aug 2011)

Sporting relatives

She competed on the ballroom dancing team at Harvard University. (usrowing.org, 23 Aug 2011)

Debut

2001 for United States (usrowing.org, 23 Aug 2011)

Injuries

She broke her foot in early 2001 (Harvard Magazine, 01 Aug 2003)

Additional information

Start of sporting career
She began rowing at The Friend's School in Tasmania, Australia in 1996. (US Rowing, 02 Oct 2003)

Reason for taking up this sport
When she was 13 a rowing coach spotted her in a local grocery store with her father, and told her that her height and build were perfect for rowing. Due to scheduling issues with school she did not start competing until a year later in Tasmania, Australia, where the family had moved for a year-long sabbatical. Her older brother also rowed, and she would follow him to the boathouse near their home to train. After returning to the USA she joined the Cascadilla Boat Club in Ithaca. (sarasotainvitational.com, 01 Oct 2010)

Most memorable sporting achievement
Winning women's eight Olympic gold at Beijing in 2008 and silver at Athens in 2004. (sarasotainvitational.com, 01 Oct 2010)

Beating all the boys in her class during a third grade arm wrestling competition. (US Rowing, 02 Oct 2003)

Hero
Her older brother, Kenneth. (Harvard Magazine, 01 Aug 2003)

Most influential person in career
Her former coach and training partner, Whitney Post, for teaching her most of what she knows and how to approach sport and life with the right mental attitude. (US Rowing, 30 Jun 2008)

Superstitions / Rituals
Every day for the entire year leading up to the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, she would watch a video called 'The Olympic Games - Amazing Awaits' on YouTube while eating breakfast before training. (dailyhouse.com, 26 Aug 2011)

Awards
She was part of the Beijing Olympic Games women's eight gold medal winning team that was named FISA's World Rowing Female Crew of the Year in 2008. (FISA, 2008)

The USA women's eight crew, of which she was a member, was a finalist for FISA's Female Crew of the Year in 2006. (FISA, 16 Jan 2007)

She was the youngest member [by two years] of the victorious USA Women's eight team at the 2002 World Rowing Championships. (ivyleaguesports.com, 12 Jun 2003)

She was part of the first-ever USA junior women's crew to win a gold medal at the Junior World Championships in 2000. (usrowing.org, 23 Aug 2011)

General
RETURNING TO OLYMPIC FORM FOR 2012
In February 2011 she blogged about the initial difficulty of getting back into Olympic level training, despite keeping a healthy lifestyle since the Beijing Olympic Games. "In the years after Beijing I've run a marathon, I've biked 40 minutes each way to work every day, I've spent more time in the gym than probably any other law student here at Columbia. In general I feel healthy and fit. But trust me, when I got on the rowing machine again it became painfully obvious that I was out of shape. The sport-specific fitness just wasn't there any more, and I was feeling the loss. That was when it occurred to me that my struggles getting back into Olympic shape have a lot in common with those of anyone who is starting a fitness regime for the first time. Fit people will tell you that you should enjoy exercise. I'm here to tell you they're wrong. Most exercise is not fun, and you will not enjoy it, especially when you're not used to it. It hurts, and you will suffer. You will feel tired all the time when you start out. But if you can push through that initial phase, then you begin to reap the rewards." (worldfit.org, 09 Feb 2011)

Previous Olympics

Beijing 2008, Athens 2004