National Men’s & Women’s US Rowing Team Strive For Olympic Dream! |

National US Rowing Olympic Team exclusively poses for The Ravi Report

The 2012 National US Rowing Olympic Team is in London gearing up for an exciting and tough competition and The Ravi Report was fortunate enough to attend the team’s press day prior to the rowers leaving for London. It was indeed a true honor meeting some of the top athletes in the world of rowing who were selected to represent the United States in the international competition.

2012 US Rowing press day was held at the captivating Mercer County Park in West Windsor

The media gathered at the scenic, simply stunning and picturesque Mercer County Park in West Windsor, NJ where reporters and writers from all across the country came to meet and interview the men’s and women’s national rowing teams. The athletes worked relentlessly for years and sacrificed much in the process to make it to the Olympics. It’s a big deal folks!! a VERY big deal! Dedication, hard work, team spirit and competitive edge is what I saw when I met these gifted rowers.

National US Rowing Olympic women’s team signing autographs for fans

Selection process started in the fall of 2011. The athletes practiced daily, hours at a time while still maintaining top grades in academics at their Ivy league schools. The words “ingenious athlete” come to mind here folks.

The Ravi Report members of the Lightweight Men’s Four team about their experiences and what going to London means to them. First up was popular athlete Robin Prendes.

RR: Congrats Robin. This is truly an honor. How has the journey to the Olympics for you been so far?

Prendes:“Thank you so much. It’s been a long process. June was the most stressful race of my life because that was the one that reflected on so many years of training. We had to qualify for the Olympics in June in Switzerland and that was the most stressful race as well I had in my entire life because there was so much on the line.”

US Olympic rowing team members Will Newell (l) with good friend Robin Prendes (r)pose exclusively for The Ravi Report

When he wasn’t signing autographs or posing for pictures, The Ravi Report caught up with Olympic rower William Newell to find out his thoughts making it to London. Newell is also part of the Lightweight Men’s Four team.

RR: Congrats Will. It’s pretty exciting heading to the Olympics. Your thoughts?

Newell: “Yeah, it’s totally exciting. We have known each other since 2010 and a first time for everyone in the boat at London. We came to the Olympic finals and will go out (to London) and do the best we can.”

US Rowing Olympic women’s team posing with the team’s mascot

The one thing that was great to see was the kind of camaraderie that these amazing rowers had with each other as well as the amount of respect they had for the sport. I’ve been covering the National US Rowing team for years and the one thing that I have noticed is that there is a tremendous amount of honor of being part of such a terrific organization. The rowers are so well-respected and so many of them go on pursuing higher education while still making rowing part of their life and lifestyle. It was nice to see former Olympic rowers attend the press event to support and encourage the younger athletes and by giving them advice and sharing their own personal Olympic memories with them.

For a complete listing of athletes and their races at the London Olympics, go to www.usrowing.com and tune into NBC www.nbc.com for exclusive coverage of the Olympics with the networks incredible team of reporters, writers and producers.

Good luck National US Rowing Olympic Team members! We will be watching and rooting for you!

The journey continues…and for the National US Rowing Olympic teams, it has just begun!

Ravi