Secret of Her Success: Olympic Gold Medalist Talks Candidly at Mamaroneck Equinox

Brandishing a gold medal from her rowing team’s 2008 Beijing Olympic win, U.S. Women’s 8+ rowing team member Susan Francia spoke candidly to a small group at Equinox Gym in Mamaroneck about her unexpected reaction to the victory.

"The Olympic starting line is a pretty nerve-racking place," said Francia of the race. "After we won, I was so excited I forgot one of the lines in the national anthem, and made up for it by crying."

Her experience meeting the USA basketball team competing in the Olympics was similarly unpredictable. "They eat a lot of McDonald's. When I let Dwight Howard wear my gold medal, Kobe Bryant appeared out of nowhere wanting to know where Howard had gotten it," she laughed.

After having participated in many different sports through High School, Francia who now stands at an impressive 6’2”, describe the way she stumbled into the sport her first year of college at the University of Pennsylvania after a semester of poor grades and partying. "It was the one sport that clicked for me," said Francia who was originally pushed into it by coaches and other athletes because of her height and build.

Her subsequent career is a story of success assisted, in part, by persistence and endurance. Francia is a six-time U.S. Women’s Rowing National Team member, and, at the 2006 World Championship she was part of the 8+ team that set the world record. In 2010 she was named USRowing's female athlete of the year.

Life for Francia is a constant dedication to the sport and to her team. She trains two-three times a day, six days a week. When she is not traveling to different destinations around the world for competition, she spends her spring, summer, and fall in Princeton, NJ, where the U.S. women's rowing team has always trained, and winter at the U.S. rowing team's facility in San Diego, California.

Francia seemed to be in good spirits, at times joking with the guests about her experiences. "We lose weight in the summer months because of the heat, so I have to make up for it by eating lots of ice cream," she said, breaking into a big grin.

"Her attitude seemed typical of a top class rower. Very friendly and down to earth, and not at all like some of the top athletes from other sports" said Martin Carr, a local resident who has been involved in the sport for many years.

"It was really inspiring to me as a young athlete. Meeting Susan was a big motivator, I hope to one day become and Olympic athlete as well,” said Olivia Orr, 16, who is a Pelham Memorial High School rower and hopes to continue to pursue the sport in college.

Francia and her teammates will be departing on June 27 for the Royal Henley Regatta outside of London, and then on to the World Cup III in Lucerne, Switzerland.

She is very optimistic about her team's chances of success next summer at the London 2012 Olympic games, but noted that if there were one team to watch out for it would be the British due to their funding of the sport in recent years.