Esther Lofgren facts for kids
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| Birth name | Esther Ruth Lofgren | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | February 28, 1985 Long Beach, California, U.S. |
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Medal record
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Esther Ruth Lofgren is an amazing American rower who won a gold medal at the Olympics! She was born on February 28, 1985. In 2012, she helped her team win gold in the women's eight rowing event at the London Summer Games. Esther went to Harvard College, where she was a top rower. She has been on the U.S. National Rowing Team eight times and has won seven medals at the World Championships.
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Esther's Early Life and School
Esther Lofgren grew up in Newport Beach, California. She went to Mariners Elementary School and Ensign Middle School. She was a very bright student and graduated at the top of her class from Newport Harbor High School.
At high school, Esther played volleyball and basketball. She even played with April Ross, who also became an Olympian in 2012! Esther started rowing in 1998 at the Newport Aquatic Center. An Olympic gold medalist, Xeno Müller, coached her for a season.
Rowing in High School and College
Esther helped her high school's junior women's rowing team make it to the National Youth Invitational for the first time. She became so good at rowing that top colleges wanted her to join their teams.
Esther continued rowing at Harvard University. She was named a top college rower (a "first-team DI All-American") twice. She also won the Athletic Excellence Award in her senior year. While still in college, she joined the U.S. National Rowing Team. She won two gold medals in Under-23 competitions and a silver and bronze medal at the Senior World Championships. After college, Esther decided to focus on rowing full-time. She moved to Princeton, New Jersey, to train with the USRowing Training Center.
Esther's Amazing Rowing Career
After her second year in college, Esther earned a spot on both the Under-23 and Senior National Teams. She won a gold medal and set a World Record in the BW8+ event. She also won a bronze medal in the W4- event with her future Olympic teammate Erin Cafaro. The next year, Esther teamed up with Genevra Stone, another future Olympic teammate, to win the BW4x.
In 2008, Esther took a year off from college to try out for the Beijing Olympic team. She was the very last person cut from the team, which must have been tough. However, she then helped her W4- team win a silver medal at the 2008 World Rowing Championships. She also won another silver medal in the W4- at the 2009 World Rowing Championships, this time with future Olympic teammate Elle Logan.
Winning Gold Medals
After graduating from Harvard in 2009, Esther joined the USRowing Training Center in Princeton, NJ. She had to overcome two rib injuries but still earned a spot on the 2010 World Championship W8+ team. They won a gold medal in New Zealand!
In 2011, Esther made history at the Henley Royal Regatta. She was the first woman ever to win two championship events there in the same year. She won the Remenham Challenge Cup (women's eight) and the Princess Grace Challenge Cup (women's quadruple sculls). This was a huge achievement because she won in both "sweep" (one oar per rower) and "sculling" (two oars per rower) events. After that, she went on to win another gold medal in Slovenia as part of the 2011 USA World Championship Women's 8+ team.
Olympic Gold and World Records
In 2012, Esther and her teammates Mary Whipple, Caryn Davies, Caroline Lind, Amanda Polk, Meghan Musnicki, Taylor Ritzel, Jamie Redman, and Susan Francia set a World Record. They did this in the women's 8+ event during the heats of the Lucerne Rowing World Cup.
Later that year, Esther, along with Whipple, Davies, Lind, Logan, Musnicki, Ritzel, Francia, and Cafaro, won the gold medal at the London 2012 Olympic Games! When she won, Esther said, "It's been a seven-year journey to make this team and all the hard work was worth it."
After the Olympics, Esther continued to compete. She raced in the women's 4x at the 2013 Lucerne Rowing World Cup and the 2013 World Rowing Championships. In 2015, she broke the half-marathon indoor rowing World Record by more than three minutes! She finished in 1 hour, 20 minutes, and 12.1 seconds.
Awards and Recognition
Esther Lofgren has received many awards for her achievements.
- In 2009, she received Radcliffe Crew's Athletic Excellence award.
- She was named a D1 First-Team All-American in 2008 and 2009.
- As a high school student, she earned a National Merit Scholarship.
In 2012, Esther and her Olympic gold medal women's 8+ crew received the Ernestine Bayer Award. This award is given by USRowing for important contributions to women's rowing.
In 2017, Esther was honored with the Yolanda L. Jackson Give Back Award by the Women's Sports Foundation. This award celebrates athletes who are great role models and who believe in giving back to their communities. She received it alongside rugby star Phaidra Knight and water polo legend Brenda Villa.
Esther's Personal Life
Esther comes from a family of rowers! Her parents, Karl and Christine Lofgren, met while rowing at MIT. They moved to Long Beach, California, in the early 1980s to train for the Los Angeles Olympic Games. Both of her parents just missed making the Olympic team. Her mother was the last woman cut from the team that went on to win gold. Instead, they decided to start a family, and Esther was born the next year.
Esther shares her experiences and tips on her personal blog, "Harder.Better.Faster.Stronger." She enjoys reading, running, cycling, blogging, and photography. She hopes to run a marathon in under three hours and complete an Ironman triathlon someday. She also shares information about her coaching and speaking events on her website, estherlofgren.com.
In 2015, Esther married Jacob Barrett. They have one child and currently live in Germany.
Esther now works as a Vice President at The SPECTRUM Group. From 2012 to 2015, she was on the Board of Directors for USRowing. She also represented rowers on the United States Olympic Committee's Athlete Advisory Council. Esther is very involved with the Women's Sports Foundation. She works hard to help more girls and women get involved in sports and rowing through her advocacy, public appearances, and social media.
See also
In Spanish: Esther Lofgren para niños
