Davies declined to comment for this story.

"A lot of the things I learned at Radcliffe about being a good teammate about being part of a successful team, that’s all stuff that hasn’t changed much, coming here," Lofgren said. "I think there’s definitely alarge overlap in what makes you successful."

Davies is already the most decorated former Radcliffe rower on the international level in program history. If the USA wins the eight in London, Lofgren will join Davies as the only female Olympic gold medalists to have once called Weld Boathouse their home. Two other Black and White rowers have Olympic medals: Michelle Guerette ’02, who earned her silver in Beijing, and Anna Seaton ’86, a bronze medalist in the doubles at the 1988 Seoul Olympics.

MAKING ENDS MEET

In pursuing an international career in rowing, Lofgren, like so many other Olympians, has been forced to put other professional ambitions on hold.

“I’ve known from the beginning that it’s not a money-maker in this country,” Lofgren said. “It’s not something I can do forever, eventually I have to settle down and, you know, make money, but it’s so rewarding that it absolutely makes up for it.”

Since graduation in 2009, Lofgren has worked as a barista, tutor, sandwich-maker, and babysitter, always looking for jobs that will pay enough to get by while maintaining flexible hours to allow for the training that is necessary to compete at such a high level.

Lofgren is currently employed by US Rowing, serving as Athlete Media and Communications Coordinator. One of her primary responsibilities in this role is expanding rowing’s visibility through social media.

“You know there’s a fairly large community of rowers out there, and it’s still growing, but it’s not very centralized at all,” Lofgren said. “So we’re trying to link in the whole community around this build up to the Olympics.”

One way in which she is doing that is by blogging her experiences on a number of sites, including in the Huffington Post, US Rowing and her own blog, "Harder. Better. Faster. Stronger."

Lofgren began blogging while still in college, at her mother's suggestion, as a favor to younger rowers she was mentoring who wanted advice on training and managing time between rowing and academics. Though she describes herself as a “pretty private person,” her blogging audience has expanded substantially.

“So far, I have about 50,000 hits, which isn’t really that much in the grand scheme of the internet,” Lofgren said. “But it is a lot for me thinking it’s still just my mom reading it.”

GEARING UP FOR LONDON

Lofgren and Davies are currently in Princeton, N.J., with the rest of Team USA training for the fast-approaching Games.

“We’ve done a lot of work the last four years, with fitness and skill,” Lofgren said. “So now we’re just doing the final tune-up stuff and really coming together as a crew.”