Sept. 27, 2017
University of Notre Dame alumna rower Molly Bruggeman (’14) helped the United States Women’s Four advance to the A Final at the World Rowing Championships in Sarasota-Bradenton, Florida, on Wednesday morning. Bruggeman sat the bow on the W4- that finished in 6:40.220 to finish first in its repechage and earn a spot to compete for a world championship.
Bruggeman will join boatmates Chase Kendall, Erin Reelick and Kristine O’Brien in the A Final at 8:25 a.m. ET on Saturday, September 30.
Ellen Gleadow (’14) already secured her spot in the A Final of the Lightweight Women’s Quadruple Sculls for Team Canada earlier in the competition. Gleadow, along with Patricia Mara, Jennifer Casson and Jill Moffatt, will hit the water in their A Final on Friday, September 29, at 2 p.m. ET.
The 2017 World Rowing Championships marks the first time the United States is hosting the event since 1994 (Indianapolis). The competition is being held at Nathan Benderson Park in Sarasota-Bradenton, Florida, as the national teams from across the world look to develop their boats for the Tokyo Olympic Games in 2020.
Bruggeman has been active with U.S. Rowing since earning a spot on on the 2012 U-23 team. She finished fourth in the W4 at the 2012 U-23 World Championships, sixth in W4x in 2013, first in the W4- and W8+ in 2014, first in W2- at the 2015 Pan American Games, second in the W4- at the 2016 world championship and competed in the W4- (fourth) and W8+ (third) at the 2017 World Rowing Cup II.
Gleadow competed in the 2016 U-23 world championships in the BLW2x, finishing seventh. She also competed for Rowing Canada in 2017 at the World Cup, finishing seventh in the LW2x.