Interview with Ursula

What is your favorite thing about rowing?

I love the combination of power and endurance. I love the outdoor component and the gliding on the water. I love the technical components and fitness required to perform. I love that it is so hard, and needs so much training and dedication to get just a few strokes right. I love the pressure to perform. I love the challenge to get 250 strokes all perfect.

How long have you been rowing?

I started with a learn-to-row class at Greenlake for 4 months in 2003. But then, didn't row again until 2005, and that was recreationally.I started training seriously when I met Carlos, in 2007. So I want to say I really started training and rowing in 2007.

What advice would you give future rowers?

Its a continual journey. A continual search for the perfect stroke. Results won't happen tomorrow. You need to keep at it, every day, in every way.

What is your most memorable experience with rowing?

There is not one moment. Rather as you say, an experience that I'm looking for every time I row. It's that experience when you are really moving the boat or the erg, and it feels so natural, easy in a way. Efficient. And you are completely in the gliding moment.

What is the hardest thing about rowing?

Having the ability to change or adjust to what's happening in the boat. Having the skill to feel the boat and feel when things are not moving the boat and what you need to change to not waste any efforts on things that don't produce speed.

What is something people don't know about you?

I want to keep rowing. Its not just about this Olympics its about this this journey. I want to keep working on how to keep fast even as the body ages.