Two Andover Olympians Compete in Beijing

August 11, 2008 — Two Phillips Academy alumni find themselves in the thick of the drama that is the summer Olympics in Beijing. Caroline Lind ’02, a Princeton graduate, is competing for the United States on the women’s eight rowing team and Hee-Jin Chang ’05 is swimming the 50- and 100-meter freestyle for her home country, South Korea.

In Heat 1 of the qualifying round today, Lind’s boat came in first, closely followed by Great Britain and Canada. The USA crew’s time was 6:06.53. Heat 2 was won by the Romanian women with a slightly better time of 6:05.53. The women’s eight world record, set in 2006 by a USA crew, is 5:55.50. The next heat will be rowed on Wednesday, August 13, and the final—should the USA crew succeed to that point—will be held on Sunday, August 17.

The six-foot Lind, a native of Greensboro, N.C., was a rowing stand-out at Andover, where she also contributed to the basketball and water polo teams. Lind is posting a blog from Beijing, which is available by clicking here.

Andover’s other Olympian is swimming champion Chang. A student at the University of Texas and a leading member of the team there, her first race, the women’s 100-meter freestyle, will be held on Wednesday, August 13. The 50-meter freestyle race is scheduled for Friday, August 15.

At 22, Chang is already an Olympics veteran, having represented South Korea in the preliminary rounds of the 50- and 100-meter events in the 2006 Games in Sydney, Australia.

At Andover, Chang won considerable recognition for swimming, achieving All-American status in seven events. In 2005, she led her team to its fourth straight New England championship, cementing its hold as the dominant team on the prep school circuit at the time.

The Olympic sagas of Lind and Chang will be updated below as results become available.

LATEST RESULTS POSTED BELOW

August 11, 2008
Caroline Lind
In Heat 1 of the qualifying round, Lind’s boat came in first, closely followed by Great Britain and Canada. The USA crew’s time was 6:06.53. The next heat will be rowed on Wednesday, August 13.