O'Leary on the Road to Rio

Episcopal Alum, Meghan O'Leary (03'), continues on her journey to the Olympics in 2016.  
Meghan reports:

Happy Monday!

Final update from this weekend's racing at the 2015 World Cup 2 in Varese, Italy - writing to you mid-flight as we hop the pond back to the States.

Hands down, Ellen and I had our best overall regatta performance this weekend. Highlights include winning both our heat and semifinal while posting the fastest times in each round, officially qualifying for the 2015 U.S. National Team, and throwing down what was arguably the closest race of the entire regatta in the Final yesterday to come home with the silver medal, just 0.14 seconds out of first behind New Zealand. I've alluded to the women's double being the most competitive and deepest event across all boat classes, and this weekend's World Cup racing certainly validated that statement. It's an honor to compete in such a top class and high quality field of athletes. The funnest part about it is that every race is an all out battle, and there are no gimmes. 

If you didn't catch the race yesterday, the video is still available on the World Rowing website (W2x Final - FA): VIDEO

I'm clearly biased, but it's well worth the watch. It'll take less than eight minutes of your day, but promises to give you at least eight hours of energy and adrenaline rush. I couldn't be prouder of my partner, Ellen Tomek in stroke seat for setting the rhythm, trusting my calls, being confident in our abilities and leaving it all on the water as we raced the best race in our history together as a crew. Missing out on gold by 0.14 seconds to the 2014 World Champions is only fuel to the fire we're building for the 2015 World Championships in September, and beyond that, hopefully a run next summer in Rio. 

What's next? We return to Princeton, NJ where we'll spend the rest of the summer. We'll take a short day to recover from competition and travel, and then dive right back into training. We've got eight weeks to build on what we've accomplished thus far and make sure that we finish on the other side of that 0.14 seconds come September. The 2015 World Championships take place August 30-September 6 in Aiguebelette, France.

Thank you again for all of your well wishes, congratulatory messages, and continued support!

Every Day Counts.

Follow Meghan's progress here. 

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