Lucy and Rosie Grinalds might have the most interesting "How I Spent My Summer" report to write when they return to Fairfield Ludlowe High School next week. They won a national championship, made the Junior National team and won silver medals in international competition.
The sisters returned this month from the World Rowing Junior Championships in Racice, Czech Republic. Lucy, a senior, won a silver medal with the women's 4. Rosie, a junior, won a silver medal in the women's 8. They made the team after the U.S. Junior Rowing Championships in June. Both rowed on the Connecticut Boat Club women's 8 that finished the season undefeated. Lucy, a three-time U.S. Junior team member, added a gold medal in the women's 2.
"It was hard to come off the high of the national championship,'' Lucy says. "We had worked so hard to go undefeated. We got to camp, it was like, 'Aagh, we're back to training.'"
The world meet was eye-opening for the sisters. The competition was intense. In the end, they helped make history. The silver medals marked the first time a U.S. team had won double medals in sweep events at worlds.
"I think it helped me become a better rower,'' Rosie says. "In the nationals, we would pull ahead after 500 meters, and the race was over. With our USA boat, we were behind after 500 or 1,000 meters and had to work that much harder."
Now, Lucy has the chore of choosing a college for both of them. "We're kind of inseparable,'' Lucy says. "I'd miss her too much if she's at a different school." Letting Lucy decide sits well with Rosie, too. "I'm sure I'll be getting calls from colleges next year, and I'll be like, 'Sorry, Lucy already made that decision.'''
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