London 2012: Kara Kohler, Women's Rowing, USA

We've got another look at another Cal athlete headed to London today and this time it is Kara Kohler, a rower for the United States Olympic team. She has taken the year off from Cal to concentrate on qualifying for the Olympics and now that she has achieved that goal, she's looking to earn a medal. You can learn much more about Kara after that jump!

Kara is from the Bay Area and always wanted to go to Cal, but she was a swimmer and not a rower. She was encouraged to try out for the Women's Crew team in Berkeley and was a natural fit. She arrived on campus in 2009 and after joining the team that spring started earning accolades right away as she was named Pac-10 Newcomer of the Year. She rowed on the varsity 8+ that came in fourth at the NCAA Championships and took first in the varsity 8+ at the Pac-10 Championships, clinching the team title for Cal. Additionally, she was named second-team CRCA All-American and CRCA Division I All-West Region first team.

USA Women's Quad (via MarinMastersWomen)

She started rowing for the national team in 2010 and won gold in the eight at the 2010 World Rowing Under 23 Championships. The next year she won gold in the eight at the 2011 Rowing World Cup stop in Lucerne and on the Princess Grace Challenge Cup at the 2011 Henley Royal Regatta. She also took home the gold in the four at the 2011 World Rowing Championships. That same year she was named one of the 2011 USRowing Fan's Choice Awards Collegiate Rowers of the Year. In 2012 so far she has finished eighth in the quadruple sculls at 2012 Samsung World Rowing Cup II and finished fourth in the quadruple sculls at the 2012 Samsung World Rowing Cup I.

Interview with Elise Etem and Kara Kohler of Cal (via rowingrelated)

To learn even more about Kara you can check out this great interview with SI.com and another one with row2k. Kara may be relatively new to the sport but that has not stopped her from making sure that people notice her talent. She'll definitely be looking to add the title of Olympic Medalist to her continuing growing resume. GO BEARS and GO USA!