Carie Graves

Carie Graves

Graves in 1984
Personal information
Full name	Carolyn Brand Graves
Born	June 27, 1953 (1953-06-27) (age 71) Madison, Wisconsin, U.S.
Height	186 cm (6 ft 1 in)
Weight	77 kg (170 lb)
Sport
Sport	Rowing
Club	Boston Rowing Club
Medal record Representing the United States Olympic Games 1984 Los Angeles Eights 1976 Montreal Eights World Rowing Championships 1975 Nottingham Eights

Carolyn Brand Graves, known as Carie Graves (born June 27, 1953), is a retired American rower. Competing in eights she won a gold medal at the 1984 Olympics and a bronze in 1976.

Early life

Carie Graves was born in Madison, Wisconsin to parents Robert and Dyrele (Derry) Graves. Carie grew up in Wyoming Township near Spring Green, Wisconsin, and she attended River Valley High School. Her paternal grandparents had moved to the Spring Green area in the 1930s from South Dakota so that Ben Graves, her grandfather, could take up a position as the land and farm manager at the re-knowned Taliesin. Her father, Robert Graves, had rowed for the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Derry Graves, who came from a circus family in Baraboo, Wisconsin, was a trained registered nurse. In the late 1960s, she worked as a nurse at the Badger Army Ammunition Plant, while Robert farmed.

College

Her first experience with rowing was as a walk-on when she was a sophomore at the University of Wisconsin–Madison in the fall of 1973. In the spring of 1975 her team won the women's national championships in Princeton, New Jersey. Her first international success came in 1975 when she won a silver medal in the eight-oared shell at the World Championships, as part of what came to be known as the "Red Rose Crew", coached by Harry Parker.

Nike World Games

In 1998, Graves and her three sisters competed in team rowing at the Nike World Games under the name Team Four Sisters. One of Graves' sisters is Leslie Graves, founder of the Lucy Burns Institute.

Olympics

She qualified for the 1976 Olympic team in the eight and won an Olympic bronze medal, the first time women's rowing was included in the Olympics. Graves continued to row and train during her tenure as head rowing coach for women at Harvard/Radcliffe, the first female Head Rowing Coach in the US. She was a member of the 1980 Olympic team, rowing in the eight that won the Lucerne International Regatta over East Germany, but was unable to compete due to the boycott of the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow, Russia. She was one of 461 athletes to receive a Congressional Gold Medal many years later. Her last Olympic competition was at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, California where she won a Gold Medal on the womans' eight team.

Other competitions

In 1981 she was the six-oar for the women's eight that finished second at the World Championships in Munich. Also in 1981 she and her teammates raced in a four and won at the Henley Royal Regatta. This was the first time women were allowed to race at Henley.

Coaching

After earning a Master's from Harvard, Graves went back to coaching in Boston at Northeastern University for 10 years. She then was recruited by the University of Texas, Austin to start their new rowing program in 1998. Graves retired from coaching in 2014.