Kristina Wagner '15 and Christina Bourmpou '25 were drawn to rowing for many of the same reasons. Mostly, both appreciated the effort it takes to excel.
"I started rowing when I was 14," Wagner said. "I have always liked that in rowing hard work is correlated with success."
"As a kid, I tried a lot of sports like tennis, track and field and dancing," Bourmpou said. "None of these sports gave me the motivation I needed to improve. What inspired me [to row] was the dedication, the passion and the commitment every rower had to the sport."
Now, the two have reached the pinnacle of the sport – competing in the Olympic Games. Wagner, who stroked the Yale varsity four to a second-place finish in the grand final at the 2015 NCAA Championship, will row for the United States in the double sculls, while
Bourmpou, an incoming first year, will sit in a Greece pair. The rowing competition gets under way in Tokyo late Thursday evening New Haven time.
"To compete in the Olympic Games is a dream come true for me," said Bourmpou, who took up rowing on the advice of her father, who was an accomplished national rower. "From 2015, I have been on the [Greece] national team and from the first day it was announced I was part of the team, my long-term goal was being a participant in the Olympics."
For Wagner, the Olympics are the culmination of many years of trials and tribulations.
"Making the Olympic team is very special – in a sport like rowing it really is the pinnacle - and since it only happens once every four years, or five in this case, it can be illusive," she said. "I have definitely had my fair share of struggles and failures but making this team feels like it was all worth it."
Wagner's experience at Yale prepared her well for her national team experiences.
"I am so proud to have rowed at Yale," she said. "It is an amazing school with an unparalleled rowing program. It is so fun wearing my Yale gear at elite and international races and hearing, and responding, to `Yeah Yale' cheers across the water."
Her success at the NCAA Championships in 2015 helped her realize she could thrive at the international level.
"I rowed in the varsity four – the third level boat – during my senior year at Yale," she said. "While it was frustrating for me that I was not racing in the top boat, I tried to stay internal and make the boat I was in go as fast as it could go. We ended up coming in second place in a pretty close race at NCAAs and I had a feeling I was not quite done rowing. Back then I knew I was far from one of the fastest in the country, but I also knew if I just kept focusing on making my boat fast, there was a possibility that I could get there one day."
Bourmpou still has her Yale experiences to come. The process of attending Yale began at the 2019 U23 World Championships in Sarasota, Fla.
"A very lovely lady, [assistant coach]
Laura Simon, spoke to me about the idea of studying at Yale," Bourmpou said. "For me, it was a dream come true."
Bourmpou will race with Maria Kyridou in the Greek pair. Bourmpou has considerable international experience, including the World and European Championships. In 2018, she won the gold medal at the Summer Youth Olympics, in Buenos Aires.
She understands that the Olympic Games are a unique opportunity.
"It would be nice to think that the trip to Japan is like a short holiday, but in fact, it's far from that," Bourmpou said. "We are representing Greece and are a very young crew, so we need to handle the nerves and dig down deep to overcome all those doubts one has entering such a prestigious event."
Wagner has the benefit of a partner who already has Olympic experience. Gevvie Stone, who rowed collegiately at Princeton, won a silver medal in the single sculls at the 2016 Olympic Games. The two, who are both from Massachusetts, paired up after Stone finished second and Wagner was third at the single sculls Olympic Trials. Just a few weeks later, they won the double sculls final, securing their spot in Tokyo.
"We have had a lot more time rowing together after trials than we did leading up to it which has been nice," Wagner said.
The two trained mostly in Boston since qualifying.
"We have had many different training partners come out and race against us multiple times a week," Wagner said. "It is humbling and amazing to me how many people want to help make us as fast as we can be, and it only makes me work harder and want to succeed in Tokyo more."
The U.S. Rowing team spent a week training in Hawaii before heading to Tokyo. Wagner hopes her first row on the course will help ease her nerves.
"I feel like that will be a big moment for me," she said. "Maybe the fact that I am at the Olympics will set in a little bit."
