SUNY Cobleskill Alum Named to U.S. Olympic Rowing Team

Jen Kaido, second from left, and teammates Margot Shumway, Lindsay Meyer and Lia Pernell  finished second in the quadruple sculls at the 2008 FISA (International Federation of Rowing Associations) World Cup in Lucerne, Switzerland.  The foursome was also named to the Olympic team together and will compete in the quadruple sculls in Beijing, China.

Jennifer Kaido, a 2001 SUNY Cobleskill graduate and Female Athlete of the Year, was named to the United States Olympic Rowing team and will be competing in the 2008 summer Olympics in Beijing, China. The West Leyden native has only been rowing for six years, and will soon face some of the best rowers in the world in a tough competition.

Kaido, a four-time national team member, and teammates Margot Shumway, Lindsay Meyer and Lia Pernell  finished second in the quadruple sculls at the 2008 FISA (International Federation of Rowing Associations) World Cup in Lucerne, Switzerland, edging out rowing powerhouses like Great Britain and Germany.  The foursome was also named to the Olympic team together and will compete in the quadruple sculls. The quadruple sculls competition is a four person boat with two oars per sculler - one in each hand.

As a former volleyball and track star at SUNY Cobleskill, where she was named Female Athlete of the Year in 2000-01, Kaido transferred to Cornell University to earn her bachelor’s degree.  It was at Cornell where she first learned how to row and made the varsity rowing team her senior year of college.

“I like team sports and found rowing my senior year in August 2002. I started on the novice team with freshman and learned how to row,” said Kaido. “They moved me to varsity team in the fall and on my first day of practice there was a 30 min ergometer (rowing machine) test where I ended up getting the second best time on the team. From that time on I knew I had found my sport.”

After graduating from Cornell in 2003 Kaido didn’t want her rowing career to end.  When a former teammate called her from Connecticut and asked her to practice with her and other rowers who were training for the 2004 summer Olympics, she jumped at the chance.  Kaido realized she had a lot of catching up to do, so those Olympics weren’t in her sight.  She spent one year training in Connecticut and eventually moved on to Princeton, NJ to train with the U.S. rowing team, where she has been ever since.

Though the weight of making the Olympic team has been lifted, Kaido is keeping an even keel and focusing on her training. Until the team departs for China, they will practice three times daily, completing nearly 40 kilometers per day.

“It’s anybody’s game at the Olympics,” she said. “It really depends on how much training we get in now, and if have a good race on race day. I think we could beat any of the other teams. We’re getting faster and getting better at our first half of the race, which right now is our weakest spot. I have faith that we could medal. We all connect really well.”