Nina Castagna

Last updated

Nina Castagna
Personal information
Birth nameCristina Castagna
Height5 ft 5 in (165 cm)
Sport
CountryUnited States
Sport Rowing
EventEight
College team Washington Huskies

Cristina Castagna is an American rowing coxswain. She will represent the United States in the women's eight at the 2024 Summer Olympics.

Contents

Career

Castagna was raised in Cincinnati, Ohio, and attended Walnut Hills High School. [1] She wanted to row as a high school freshman but was instead trained to cox because of her size at 4 feet 10 inches (1.47 m) and 78 pounds (35 kg). [2] [3]

Castagna attended the University of Washington, where she competed with the Huskies rowing team from 2019 to 2023. She finished as high as second place in the varsity eight at the NCAA championships. She was given first-team All-Pac-12 honors three times and first-team All-American during her final season. [1] [4]

Castagna won silver with the United States in the women's eight at the 2023 World Rowing Championships. [4] Castagna was selected to cox the United States women's eight at the 2024 Summer Olympics in France. [3]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rowing (sport)</span> Sport where individuals or teams row boats by oar

Rowing, often called crew in the United States, is the sport of racing boats using oars. It differs from paddling sports in that rowing oars are attached to the boat using rowlocks, while paddles are not connected to the boat. Rowing is divided into two disciplines: sculling and sweep rowing. In sculling, each rower holds two oars, one in each hand, while in sweep rowing each rower holds one oar with both hands. There are several boat classes in which athletes may compete, ranging from single sculls, occupied by one person, to shells with eight rowers and a coxswain, called eights. There are a wide variety of course types and formats of racing, but most elite and championship level racing is conducted on calm water courses 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) long with several lanes marked using buoys.

Patrick John Sweeney is a retired coxswain for Great Britain's rowing team. Sweeney competed at the 1972 Summer Olympics, 1976 Summer Olympics and the 1988 Summer Olympics.

The Intercollegiate Rowing Association (IRA) governs intercollegiate rowing between varsity men's heavyweight, men's lightweight, and women's lightweight rowing programs across the United States, while the NCAA fulfills this role for women's open weight rowing. It is the direct successor to the Rowing Association of American Colleges, the first collegiate athletic organization in the United States, which operated from 1870–1894.

Robert Gaston Moch was an American coxswain who won Olympic gold at the 1936 Summer Olympics.

Lesley Allison Thompson-Willie is a Canadian rowing coxswain and Olympic champion. Between 1984 and 2016, she has competed at eight Olympic Games, a record for a rower, winning medals in five of them including gold in the eight at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona.

Mary Rebecca Whipple is an American coxswain famous for winning a gold medal in women's eight at the 2012 Summer Olympics and at the 2008 Summer Olympics. She also competed at the 2004 Summer Olympics where she won a silver medal. As a coxswain, Whipple stands 5 ft 3 in (1.60 m) and weighs in at 108 lb (49 kg).

Marcus McElhenney is an American coxswain and attorney. He won a bronze medal in the men's eight at the 2008 Summer Olympics before a career in law and politics.

John Stuart Stillings is an American former competitive rower and Olympic silver medalist.

Elizabeth Ann "Betsy" Beard is a former American competitive coxswain and Olympic gold medalist.

Yasmin Farooq is an American rowing cox and the head coach of the University of Washington women's rowing team. She graduated from Waupun High School in 1984 at Waupun, Wisconsin. She attended the University of Wisconsin where she joined the rowing team in 1984 as a coxswain. She was a member of the 1986 national champion JV eight and served as captain and MVP of the team her senior year. A two-time Olympian and world champion in rowing, Farooq later became a college coach at Stanford University where she helped the Cardinal win its first ever Pac-12 and NCAA titles in rowing. At the University of Washington, her team swept the NCAA Championship for the first-time in history, then repeated the feat in 2019 setting NCAA records in all three events. She has been named Pac-12 coach of the year six times and national coach of the year three times. She was inducted into the USRowing Hall of Fame in 2014 and awarded the Ernestine Bayer Woman of the Year award by USRowing in 2017. In 2021, Farooq was inducted into the Wisconsin Athletics Hall of Fame.

Elizabeth "Lizzy" Patrick is an Australian rowing coxswain – a national champion, world champion and a dual Olympian. From 2005 to 2014 she was the prominent coxswain in Australian women's rowing, steering every Australian representative senior women's eight raced at a premier international regatta in that decade.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Phelan Hill</span> British rower

Phelan Hill is a British rowing coxswain. He is a three-time world champion and an Olympic gold medallist. He competed in the Men's eight event at the 2012 Summer Olympics, winning a bronze medal. In 2016, he competed in the Men's eight event at the 2016 Summer Olympics, winning the gold medal.

Lauren Wilkinson is a Canadian rower. She is a 2 time Olympian. She graduated from Princeton University in 2011 with a degree in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. During her senior year at Princeton, Wilkinson stroked the crew that won the I Eight event at the 2011 NCAA Championships. Wilkinson attended Crofton House School, graduating in 2007. She was awarded the Alumnae Association's Achievement Award of Crofton House School in 2013.

Katelin Guregian is an American national rowing team coxswain. She is a five-time world champion and an Olympic gold medallist.

Frances "Francie" Turner is a New Zealand coxswain. She competed at the Rio Olympics with the New Zealand women's eight.

Jennifer Walinga is a retired rower who competed between the 1980s to 1990s. As a member of the national rowing team for Canada, Walinga did not medal at the 1985 World Rowing Championships. In coxed four events, Walinga won gold at the 1986 Commonwealth Games and the 1986 World Rowing Championships. Years later, she had a seventh place finish in coxed four at the 1988 Summer Olympics.

Kendall "Kenny" Chase is an American rower who competes in international level events and has qualified to represent the United States at the 2020 Summer Olympics. She was a five-time World U23 champion and a World Junior silver medalist. She represented the United States at the 2020 Summer Olympics. She is openly a part of the LGBTQ+ community.

Stuart Sim is an Australian representative rowing coxswain. He is an Olympian and a national champion, has represented at world championships and was a world junior champion in 2011. He rowed in the Australian men's eight at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

Kirstyn Moana Goodger is a New Zealand rower. Originally from Auckland and now based in Cambridge, she took up rowing in 2005. She has won one international medal for New Zealand – a silver at the 2009 World Rowing Junior Championships in France. From 2011 to 2014, she rowed for the Washington Huskies while studying oceanography at the University of Washington. Upon her return to New Zealand, she joined the Wairau Rowing Club and is one of the premier rowers who belongs to the Central Rowing Performance Centre. Goodger has been an elite rower for the national squad since 2017. She has represented her country at several World Rowing Cups, the 2017 and the 2019 World Rowing Championships. At the latter regatta, she managed to qualify the women's quad scull boat category for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. She was chosen as one of ten rowers for the New Zealand women's eight and travelled to the Games with the team. The woman's eight squad would come away with a silver medal in the eight at the 2020 games. Goodger has won four premier national titles in the women's eight. She worked as a scientist and engineer for consultancy Beca in their ports and coastal team.

Colette Lucas-Conwell is an American coxswain. At the 2023 Pan American Games, Lucas-Conwell won gold as the coxswain for the United States mixed eight and silver for the women's eight. She is the first female athlete invited to a men's Olympic rowing selection camp in U.S. rowing history.

References

  1. 1 2 "Nina Castagna – Women's Rowing". Washington Huskies . Retrieved July 12, 2024.
  2. Hanson, Scott (May 5, 2023). "Here's why coxswains are so valuable to Husky rowing's success: 'They're the brain'". The Seattle Times . Retrieved July 12, 2024.
  3. 1 2 Mitchell, Megan (April 15, 2024). "Walnut Hills graduate in driver's seat of Team USA's Olympic rowing journey". WLWT . Retrieved July 12, 2024.
  4. 1 2 "Cristina Castagna". USRowing . Retrieved July 12, 2024.