Zsuzsanna "Susan" Francia ( hu, Francia Zsuzsanna; born November 8, 1982) is a

Hungarian-American Hungarian Americans ( Hungarian: ''amerikai magyarok'') are Americans of Hungarian descent. The U.S. Census Bureau has estimated that there are approximately 1.396 million Americans of Hungarian descent as of 2018. The total number of people wit ...

two time Olympic gold medalist

rower Rowing, sometimes called crew in the United States, is the sport of racing boats using oars. It differs from paddling sports in that rowing oars are attached to the boat using oarlocks, while paddles are not connected to the boat. Rowing is ...

. Growing up in Abington, Pennsylvania, she attended Abington Senior High School, followed by the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...

, graduating in 2004 with bachelor's and a master's degrees in Criminology and Sociology. She currently resides in

Princeton Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the ni ...

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

, and is affiliated with the US Rowing Training Center. Francia is the daughter of Hungarian biochemist and renowned

mRNA In molecular biology, messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) is a single-stranded molecule of RNA that corresponds to the genetic sequence of a gene, and is read by a ribosome in the process of synthesizing a protein. mRNA is created during the ...

researcher

Katalin Karikó Katalin Karikó ( hu, Karikó Katalin, ; born 17 January 1955) is a Hungarian-American biochemist who specializes in RNA-mediated mechanisms. Her research has been the development of in vitro- transcribed mRNA for protein therapies. She co-fo ...

. She is fluent in Hungarian.

Rowing career

Francia began rowing as a sophomore at the

in 2001. She was a Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association Division I All-American at the University of Pennsylvania in 2004. Since graduating, she has served nine years as a U.S. National Team member and won a gold medal with the 2012 Olympic Team in London, England, and the 2008 Olympic Team in Beijing, China. Francia won the Remenham Cup Remenham Challenge Cup at the 2011 and 2006 Henley Royal Regatta. At the FISA

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 th ...

in 2006, Francia won the gold medal in the women's eight with a new world's best time of 5:55.50. In addition to her international accomplishments, Francia has also had much domestic success. She won the second National Selection Regatta in the pair in 2011, and all three National Selection Regattas in 2010. She finished second in the pair at the second 2008 National Selection Regatta. She won the championship eight at the 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, and 2012 Head of the Charles Regatta in Cambridge, Massachusetts. She won the eight and finished third in the pair at the 2007 US Rowing National Championships. She won the double sculls at the second 2006 National Selection Regatta and finished second in the four at the 2004 U.S. National Team Trials.

Coaching

Francia has been an assistant coach for UCSD Women's Rowing team for the 2017–18 and 2018–19 seasons. In addition, she was formerly the head coach of the Junior Women's Varsity Rowing team at the San Diego Rowing Club.sdnews.co

"San Diego junior rowers sweep competition at Desert Sprints"

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Francia, Susan Living people 1982 births Hungarian emigrants to the United States University of Pennsylvania alumni Olympic gold medalists for the United States in rowing Rowers at the 2008 Summer Olympics Rowers at the 2012 Summer Olympics American female rowers Medalists at the 2012 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2008 Summer Olympics World Rowing Championships medalists for the United States 21st-century American women