Christopher Donald Liwski (born April 21, 1980) is a

Canadian American Canadian Americans is a term that can be applied to American citizens whose ancestry is wholly or partly Canadian, or citizens of either country that hold dual citizenship. The term ''Canadian'' can mean a nationality or an ethnicity. Canadia ...

rower, a six-time U.S. National Team member, a double world championship medal winner, and a two-time member of the United States Olympic Rowing Team.

Career

Early life and education

Liwski was born in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple ...

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

, Canada. He attended Syracuse University as an undergraduate. He then began his legal education at the

Syracuse University College of Law Syracuse University College of Law (SUCOL) is a Juris Doctor degree-granting law school of Syracuse University in Syracuse, New York. It is one of only four law schools in upstate New York. Syracuse was accredited by the American Bar Association ...

, before enrolling in St Catherine's College of

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to th ...

, where he undertook a Master of Science degree in Water Science, Policy and Management. Liwski then returned to the U.S. where he completed his J.D. degree at

Boston College Law School Boston College Law School (BC Law) is the law school of Boston College. It is situated on a wooded campus in Newton, Massachusetts, about 1.5 miles from the university's main campus in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. With approximately 800 stud ...

Other activities

From 2008 to 2015 he served as the director & legal chair of the board of directors of the

United States Rowing Association The United States Rowing Association, commonly known as USRowing, is the national governing body for the sport of Rowing in the United States. It serves to promote the sport on all levels of competition, including the selection and training of t ...

. From 2017 to 2018 he served on the board of trustees of the Visiting Nurses Association of

Princeton, New Jersey Princeton is a municipality with a borough form of government in Mercer County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It was established on January 1, 2013, through the consolidation of the Borough of Princeton and Princeton Township, both of whi ...

Legal career

Liwski practices law in the United States. He began his legal career as an attorney with the legal department of Johnson & Johnson and later worked for Drinker Biddle & Reath.LinkedIn Profile
/ref> He now serves as head of legal operations for

Sanofi Sanofi S.A. is a French multinational pharmaceutical and healthcare company headquartered in Paris, France. Originally, the corporation was established in 1973 and merged with Synthélabo in 1999 to form Sanofi-Synthélabo. In 2004, Sanofi-Syn ...

International rowing career

Liwski won his first international gold medal in 2002 at the three seat of the United States 8+ in the Nations Cup World Championships. He then won gold again in the United States 8+ at the 2003 Pan-American Games. Liwski sat in the five seat of the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

8+, which came fourth in the final World Cup event before the Athens Olympics, but rowed as the Olympic team spare by the time the crew went on to win Gold in Athens. A year later he competed internationally again, this time at the World Cup event at Dorney Lake, Eton. Liwski, and Oxford crewmate Michael Blomquist, finished ninth there in the

coxless pair A coxless pair is a rowing boat used in the sport of competitive rowing. It is designed for two rowers, who propel the boat with sweep oars. The crew consists of a pair of rowers, each having one oar, one on the stroke side (rower's right ...

. In 2006 Liwski competed at the World Championships rowing at the five seat in the

8+, which won a bronze medal behind Germany and Italy. Competing again at the 2007 World Championships, Liwski stroked the U.S. Men’s 4+ to a gold medal. In 2008 after a difficult year of team selection, Liwski was once again named as alternate on the men's sweep team for the Beijing Olympics.

Achievements

Olympics

* Beijing Olympics – Team Member (''starboard alternate'') * Athens Olympics – Team Member (''starboard alternate'')

World Championships

* 2007

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Ha ...

– Gold, US 4+ (Stroke) *2006 Eton – Bronze, US 8+ (Five)

World Cups

*2005 Eton – 9th, US 2- (Bow) *2004 Lucerne – 4th, US 8+ (Five)

International competition

*2003 Pan American Games – Gold, US 8+ (Five); 4th, US 2- (Bow) *2002 Under-23 World Championships – Gold, US 8+ (Three)

Nationally

*2006 Nationals – Gold, PTC 8+ *2007 Nationals – Gold, PTC 8+; Silver, PTC 4-

The Boat Race

Whilst at

, Liwski was a member of

Oxford University Boat Club Oxford University Boat Club (OUBC) is the rowing club for male, heavyweight oarsman of the University of Oxford, England, located on the River Thames at Oxford. The club was founded in the early 19th century. The Boat Race The club races agai ...

and took part in the

Boat Race Boat racing is a sport in which boats, or other types of watercraft, race on water. Boat racing powered by oars is recorded as having occurred in ancient Egypt, and it is likely that people have engaged in races involving boats and other wate ...

in 2005, marking the 151st racing of the prestigious annual event. Both universities had extremely strong intakes that year, with

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a College town, university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cam ...

boasting several world champions and the Oxford crew including Olympic silver medallist Barney Williams, and now famed British oarsmen, and three-time Olympic Gold Medalists, Andrew Triggs Hodge and

Pete Reed Peter K. Reed OBE (born 27 July 1981) is a retired British Olympic rower. Reed is a three-times Olympic gold medallist – earning gold in the Men's coxless four at the 2008 and 2012 Olympics, and then a gold medal in the Men's eight at the 2 ...

. Oxford, with Liwski in the five seat, won the contest by two lengths in a time of 16 minutes 42 seconds. To date, the 2005 Oxford Blue Boat marks the heaviest crew weight of all time.

Collegiate Rowing

Liwski rowed for the Syracuse University Crew for four years as an undergraduate, was the recipient of the David Godfrey Award in his senior year, and has been inducted into the Syracuse Athletics Rowing Hall of Fame. Also, just hours after competing in the 2005 World Cup event at

Dorney Lake Dorney Lake (also known as Eton College Rowing Centre, and as Eton Dorney as a 2012 Summer Olympics venue) is a purpose-built rowing lake in England. It is near the village of Dorney, Buckinghamshire, and is around 3 km (2 miles) west of Wi ...

, Eton, Chris made a guest appearance in St Catherine's College first VIII, which was competing in the Oxford University

Summer Eights Eights Week, also known as Summer Eights, is a four-day regatta of bumps races which constitutes the University of Oxford's main intercollegiate rowing event of the year. The regatta takes place in May of each year, from the Wednesday to the ...

. He was joined in that crew by fellow international competitors Andrew Triggs Hodge and Colin Smith. They easily defeated their opposition,

Hertford College Hertford College ( ), previously known as Magdalen Hall, is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. It is located on Catte Street in the centre of Oxford, directly opposite the main gate to the Bodleian Library. The colle ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Liwski, Christopher 1980 births Living people Alumni of St Catherine's College, Oxford American male rowers Anglophone Quebec people 21st-century American lawyers Syracuse University alumni Boston College Law School alumni New Jersey lawyers Canadian emigrants to the United States Oxford University Boat Club rowers Pan American Games medalists in rowing Pan American Games gold medalists for the United States Rowers from Montreal World Rowing Championships medalists for the United States Rowers at the 2003 Pan American Games Medalists at the 2003 Pan American Games