Kara Kohler (born January 20, 1991) is an American female

crew A crew is a body or a class of people who work at a common activity, generally in a structured or hierarchical organization. A location in which a crew works is called a crewyard or a workyard. The word has nautical resonances: the tasks involve ...

rower. She won the bronze medal at the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

in the

quadruple sculls A quadruple sculling boat, often simply called a quad and abbreviated 4x, is a rowing boat used in the sport of competitive rowing. It is designed for four people who propel the boat by sculling with two oars, or "sculls", one in each hand. Rac ...

event. She also has a World Championship gold medal in the coxless four and a World Championship bronze in the single sculls.

Career

Kohler swam through high school and started rowing at

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 ...

. In 2011, she was named a Division I first team All-American. She was a member of the crew that won the I Eight at the 2013

NCAA Rowing Championships The NCAA Division I Rowing Championship is a rowing championship held by the NCAA for Division I women's heavyweight (or openweight) collegiate crews. The inaugural National Championship was held in 1997 for the top 16 crews in the country, loca ...

. Within two years of starting to row, she was part of the United States under-23 team, winning a gold medal in the women's eights at the 2010 U-23 World Championship. In 2011 Kohler was part of the US team that won the coxless four at the

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

, alongside

Sarah Zelenka Sarah Zelenka (born June 8, 1987) is an American rower. She was a member of the 2012 US Summer Olympic team, having competed in the women's pair race. Biography Zelenka was born in Park Ridge, Illinois. She was a basketball player at Lake Pa ...

, Emily Regan and

Sara Hendershot Sara Hendershot (born April 27, 1988) is an American rower from West Simsbury, CT, who competed at the 2012 Summer Olympics in the women's pair with Sarah Zelenka. Sara played soccer and swimming in high school, but began rowing full-time i ...

. 2012 saw Kohler, Natalie Dell, Megan Kalmoe and

Adrienne Martelli Adrienne Elizabeth Martelli (born December 3, 1987) is an American female crew rower from University Place, Washington. She took an Olympic bronze medal in 2012 and a gold medal in the 2015 World Championships. Life Born in Glendale, California ...

win bronze in the women's quadruple sculls at the Olympic Games. She was not selected for the

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics ( pt, Jogos Olímpicos de Verão de 2016), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad ( pt, Jogos da XXXI Olimpíada) and also known as Rio 2016, was an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 20 ...

, and nearly quit rowing. After switching to the single sculls in 2018, Kohler won the bronze medal at the 2019 World Championships. That year, she was also named US Rowing's female Rower of the Year. On February 26, 2021, Kohler won the USA Olympic Trials race for single sculls to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics

References

External links

* * 1991 births Living people American female rowers Rowers at the 2012 Summer Olympics Rowers at the 2020 Summer Olympics Olympic bronze medalists for the United States in rowing Medalists at the 2012 Summer Olympics World Rowing Championships medalists for the United States Sportspeople from Walnut Creek, California 21st-century American women {{US-rowing-Olympic-medalist-stub