Patricia Maria Spratlen-Etem (born March 14, 1956 in

Columbus, Ohio Columbus () is the state capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the 14th-most populous city in the U.S., the second-most populous city in the Midwest, after Chicago, and t ...

) is an American former competitive rower. She rowed at the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

Early rowing career

Spratlen-Etem began her rowing career when she joined the team at

UC Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of Californi ...

. She excelled and qualified for the Olympic Games twice. In 1977 she became the stroke of the varsity eight and was a vital part winning titles at the Bay Area Rowing Festival, the Western Collegiate, the NWRA Regional, and Pacific Coast Championships. She took home a gold medal in Switzerland at the Lucerne International Regatta and in the 1979, 1981, and 1983

World Rowing Championships The World Rowing Championships is an international rowing regatta organized by FISA (the International Rowing Federation). It is a week-long event held at the end of the northern hemisphere summer and in non-Olympic years is the highlight of the ...

, she took home a bronze and two silver medals. Etem, a member of the class of 1979, was inducted into the California Athletics Hall of Fame in 1990.

Olympian

Spratlen-Etem qualified for the 1980 U.S. Olympic team but was unable to compete due to the

1980 Summer Olympics boycott The 1980 Summer Olympics boycott was one part of a number of actions initiated by the United States to protest against the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. The Soviet Union, which hosted the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow, and its allies later ...

. In 2007, she received one of 461 Congressional Gold Medals created especially for the spurned athletes. She was a member of the American women's

coxed four A coxed four, also known as a 4+, is a rowing boat used in the sport of competitive rowing. It is designed for four persons who propel the boat with sweep oars and is steered by a coxswain. The crew consists of four rowers, each having one oa ...

s team that finished fourth at the

1984 Summer Olympics The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and also known as Los Angeles 1984) were an international multi-sport event held from July 28 to August 12, 1984, in Los Angeles, California, United States. It marked the secon ...

in Los Angeles. She is the second Black woman to compete for the US Olympic Rowing team, after

Anita DeFrantz Anita Lucette DeFrantz (born October 4, 1952) is an American Olympic rower, member of the International Olympic Committee, and twice Vice-President of International Rowing Federation (FISA). Biography DeFrantz was born in 1952 in Philadelphia, ...

Personal

Spratlen-Etem has three children, Martin, Elise, and Emerson. Martin became the first African-American on the US Rowing Under-23 National Team in 2008. Elise was initially recruited as a swimmer for

, and later switched to rowing. She eventually received a PAC-12 Athlete of the Year award, as well as earning CRCA All-American honors in her senior year. Her son,

Emerson Etem Emerson Albert Spratlen Etem (born June 16, 1992) is an American former professional ice hockey right winger and current co-owner of the Long Beach Shredders of the USPHL. He was originally selected in the first round, 29th overall, by the An ...

, is a professional ice hockey player. Spratlen-Etem has a masters degree in public health and behavioral sciences from the

References

1956 births Living people Sportspeople from Columbus, Ohio American female rowers Olympic rowers for the United States Rowers at the 1984 Summer Olympics Congressional Gold Medal recipients 21st-century American women {{US-rowing-Olympic-medalist-stub