Grace Latz

Last updated

Grace Latz
Grace Latz 2015 - World Championships - 35 (cropped).jpg
In 2015 at Aiguebelette
Personal information
BornFebruary 21, 1988 (1988-02-21) (age 37)
Jackson, Michigan, U.S.
Height6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Sport
CountryUnited States
Sport Rowing
Event(s)Women's sweep and sculling (W4x, W4-, and W8+)
College team Wisconsin Badgers
Medal record
Women's rowing
Representing the Flag of the United States (23px).png  United States
World Championships
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 2015 Aiguebelette W4-
Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg 2014 Amsterdam W4x

Grace Latz (born February 21, 1988) is an American rower, [1] Olympian, artist, and announcer.

Contents

Career

Rowing

Latz started rowing as a walk-on athlete at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. As a member of Badger women's rowing, she won a Big Ten Championship in the 2V8+ in 2008. In 2010, her performance in the V8+ helped the crew win its first and to-date only Big Ten Team Championship. [2] Latz received the university's student-athlete community service award for co-founding ReThink Wisconsin, a recycling and sustainability program for on-campus athletic facilities. ReThink Wisconsin's founding group also included comedian Charlie Berens. [3] Latz was a three-year member of the Iron Shield Society.

In 2014, Latz won a bronze medal at the World Rowing Championships at the Bosbaan in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, in the women’s quadruple sculls. [4] In 2015 Latz, Kristine O'Brien, Adrienne Martelli and Grace Luczak took the gold medal in the coxless four at the 2015 World Rowing Championships in Aiguebelette, France. [5] In 2016, Latz was a finalist in the women’s quadruple sculls in the 2016 Summer Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, placing fifth. At the 2017 World Championships in Sarasota, Florida, Latz placed fourth in the women's eights.

By earning her spot on the 2016 Olympic team, Latz continued the streak for the University of Wisconsin to have an alumni compete in rowing at every Olympic Games since 1968. [6] The streak has continued on through Paris 2024.

On August 20, 2025, the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee announced it had appointed Latz to its Collegiate Advisory Council. [7]

Art

Latz was one of four Olympians selected for the Paris 2024 Olympian-Artist Program to implement collaborative and community-based art during the 2024 Summer Olympics. Through reassembling donated uniforms and equipment from Olympic sports through a local recycling center, Latz created a large-scale tapestry of the Olympic rings with the support senior Parisian citizens in the lead up to the 2024 Olympics. The piece was displayed during the Games at Clubhouse 24 at Palais de Tokyo and has subsequently become part of the permanent collection of the Olympic Museum in Lausanne, Switzerland.

Latz was previously selected for the Tokyo 2020 Olympian-Artist Program, however, that community-based project was postponed and eventually cancelled following the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Broadcasting

Latz was hired to announce the 2024 US Olympic and Paralympic Trials - Rowing together with Lindsay Shoop on Peacock (streaming service). Latz was also part of the broadcasting teams for the 2024 and 2025 Big Ten Women's Rowing Championships on the Big Ten Network, 2024 and 2025 NCAA Women's Rowing Championships, and has co-hosted USRowing's Youth National Championships broadcast since 2023.

References

  1. "Grace Latz". April 6, 2016. Archived from the original on April 6, 2016.
  2. "Wisconsin rowing wins its first Big Ten Championship". Wisconsin Badgers. May 1, 2010. Retrieved July 4, 2024.
  3. "Undergraduate symposium - Abstracts 2009" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on May 9, 2009.
  4. "World Rowing - Grace LATZ". World Rowing. Retrieved July 4, 2024.
  5. "Luczak of US wins 3rd career gold at rowing worlds". SI.com. Retrieved September 20, 2017.
  6. "Latz named to U.S. Olympic rowing team". Wisconsin Badgers. June 22, 2016. Retrieved July 4, 2024.
  7. "USOPC | U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee appoints new members to the USOPC Collegiate Advisory Council". www.usopc.org. Retrieved September 1, 2025.