“On the Radcliffe team, we have a legend that in the Charles River, there’s a river goddess, Carla,” Lambert said. “And so [my team name is] a play on that and Charlie’s Angels.”
Lambert started the day with low expectations and a conservative mentality, looking to push herself hard, but only as hard as she needed to in the hopes of saving her energy for the finals. She finished the heat in a time of 6:57.2, which placed her sixth in the international pool and third among college rowers.
With her teammates looking on and the adrenaline pumping, both her diminished prospects and conservative game plan went out the window.
A 5.6 second drop in the second event (6:51.6) moved her to fourth in the international field and second in the collegiate.
“It was a big surprise for me mostly,” Lambert said. “I was pretty nervous going into it and it wasn’t until half way through the finals that I knew that I had a shot at doing pretty well.”
Sophomore Heather Schofield qualified for the collegiate final, rowing 7:10.00, but was unable to compete due to a shoulder injury.