Sept. 24, 2010

NOTRE DAME, Ind. –

Former Notre Dame rower Amanda Polk has been named a member of the eight-boat set to compete at the 2010 World Rowing Championships taking place Oct. 31-Nov. 7 in Lake Karapiro, New Zealand, it was announced by USRowing.

The `08 graduate is no stranger to rowing on the international stage as she helped lead the United States women’s four boat to the silver medal at the `09 World Championships in Poznan, Poland and the Under-23 women’s eight boat to the top spot on the podium at the `08 FISA World Rowing Championships in Brandenburg, Germany.

Most recently, she helped the women’s eight boat claim gold at the ’10 FISA Rowing World Cup III in Lucerne, Switzerland. She remains the only Irish women’s rower to participate on a national team and earn a medal in the process.

Polk remains the standard in Notre Dame rowing with her accomplishments in the water from 2004-08. She is the only Irish rower to be named a Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association (CRCA) All-American four-times, including three years on the first team. She was also named a CRCA All-Central Region first-team honoree all four years at Notre Dame, while being named to the BIG EAST All-Academic team twice for her accomplishments in the classroom.

During her era in South Bend, the Irish achieved unprecedented success by earning back-to-back berths in the NCAA Championships. In `06, in the program’s first-ever appearance in the team competition, Notre Dame grabbed a ninth-place finish, and followed that up with a 12th-place finish in `07. Her ’06 varsity eight crew won the Petite Final at the NCAA Championships after winning the gold medal at the Central/South Sprints and finished fifth in the final CRCA/US Rowing rankings. In ’07, Notre Dame finished in the top-10 of the national rankings with a sixth-place finish after placing third at the Central/South Sprints.

— ND —