Making Team USA: Women’s Eight

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The U.S. women’s eight has a storied history at the Olympics, and they are working to return to the podium this year. The women’s eight placed second at the 2023 World Championships and third at World Cup II in 2024. The crew, composed of coxswain Cristina Castagna, Charlotte Buck, Olivia Coffey, Claire Collins, Meghan Musnicki, Regina Salmons, Madeleine Wanamaker, Margaret Hedeman, and Molly Bruggeman, has a mix of returning Olympians and first-timers. Meghan Musnicki is a four-time Olympian and two time gold medalist. Sitting in five seat, she provides leadership and maturity to help this crew move their bow up. Buck, Coffey, Collins, Salmons, and Wanamaker all raced in Tokyo. Bruggeman, who served as an alternate in Tokyo, will be racing at her first Olympics, as will Castagna and Hedeman. 

The women’s eight won gold in 2008, 2012, and 2016. They came in fourth at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. This crew is looking for a return to form. 

Coxswain Nina Castagna is one of the youngest members of the eight. She finished her senior year at the University of Washington in 2023, capping off her career with a second place finish in the varsity eight at the NCAA Championships. She quickly earned her first spot on the senior national team for the 2023 World Championships. Nina was a 2023 CRCA First Team All-American and a 2023 First Team All-Pac-12 selection. She grew up in Ohio and started her coxswain career at the Cincinnati Juniors Rowing Club. 

Columbia graduate, Charlotte Buck leads this crew in the stroke seat. Buck, a New York native, returns for her second Olympics. She began her rowing career at Rockland Rowing in 2014. At Columbia, she walked on to the varsity team, was named a two-time captain, and was voted MVP. Buck was voted Columbia Alumni of the Year in 2023. 

Olivia Coffey has a long tradition of rowing in her family, her father stroked the men’s pair to a silver medal at the 1976 Olympics. Coffey returns to race at the Olympics for the second time after competing in the women’s eight in Tokyo; she was an alternate for Rio. Coffey rowed at Harvard, where she medaled on the U23 national team in 2009, 2010, and 2011. The New Yorker continued her journey on the senior national team, winning gold in the quadruple sculls at the 2015 World Championships and gold in the eight at the 2018 World Championships. In addition to her degree at Harvard, Coffey attended Cambridge University, where she earned her MBA and won The Boat Race in 2018. 

Two-time Olympian Claire Collins won her first medal for the U.S. as a U19 athlete at the 2012 World Championships, and she has not slowed down since. An eight time national team member, she made appearances on the U19, U23, and senior national teams. Collins graduated from Princeton University with a degree in economics in 2019. She won silver and bronze in the U23 eight in 2017 and 2018. She was nominated for the NCAA Female Athlete of the Year, won Princeton University's C. Otto von Keinbusch Award for Princeton's top senior female athlete, and was a three-time All-American. She can be found baking or cooking in her free time. 

Meghan Musnicki, a four time Olympian, is looking to win another medal, she would tie for the most decorated U.S. rower of all time. The New Yorker already has two Olympic gold medals from the 2012 and 2016 games. Musnicki is a five-time world champion. She was named USRowing’s Female Athlete of the Year in 2021 and was inducted into the NYAC Hall of Fame in 2022. Her journey to the senior national team was not easy, she was cut three times prior to making her first team. Musnicki, known for her perseverance and tenacity, was not deterred from trying again. In 2010, she fought her way into the eight and never let go. Musnicki walked onto the St. Lawrence University rowing team after running into the coach. She would transfer to Ithaca College after her father passed away in 2002. 

Two-time Olympian, Regina Salmons is a University of Pennsylvania graduate looking to win a medal at the Olympic Games. Salomons, a Massachusetts native, has a history of winning on the national team, having won silver at the 2023 World Championships in the eight and gold on the U23 team at the world championships in the eight and four in 2016 and the four in 2018. She was a 2017 and 2018 Scholar Athlete Award (CRCA) winner and a 2018 All-Ivy First-Team selection. In addition to her pursuits on the water, Salmons enjoys writing poetry, and at Penn, she was the editor in chief of the feminist literary and arts magazine "The F-word" and chaired the poetry workshop group "The Body Electric." She began her rowing journey at Amoskeag Rowing as a high schooler. 

Madeleine Wanamaker joins the ranks of walk-on collegiate rowers turned Olympians. A two-time Olympian, Wanamaker learned to row at the University of Wisconsin and quickly became a leader of the team. She helped the Badgers to a pair of top-10 NCAA finishes in 2016 and 2017 and garnered second team All-Big Ten and All-Region honors. She first appeared on the national team as a U23 athlete in 2016 and 2017. She received a masters in sports leadership from UW Madison this year, and she plans to pursue a career in coaching or sports psychology. She is passionate about athlete mental health and wants to help young female athletes build confidence through sports. 

Margaret Hedeman is appearing in her first Olympics, having graduated from Yale University in 2023. She made her first national team the same year, she raced in the eight at the 2023 World Championships and won silver. The Massachusetts native who rowed for Community Rowing, Inc. started her national team journey as a U19 athlete in 2018, winning gold in the four at the world championships. She continued her record of success at the world championships, winning gold in 2022 in the U23 eight. Hedeman was the recipient of Yale University’s 2019 Chris Ernst Award and 2023 Anne Warner Award. She was a 2020, 2022, and 2023 CRCA Scholar Athlete and a 2023 First-Team  All-American and All-Ivy selection. Hedeman prioritized her studies in addition to her successful rowing career, receiving Yale's 2023 Robert D. Gries prize for senior thesis in history.

Molly Bruggeman is a Notre Dame alumnus who first entered the U.S. National Team as a U23 athlete in 2013 and in 2014. She pulled double duty on the team and won gold in both the four and eight at the U23 World Championships. An alternate for the Tokyo Olympics, Bruggeman made sure she was in the strongest position for the 2024 Olympics. She is a World Champion, winning the women’s four in 2018. She placed second in the four in 2016. Originally from Dayton, Ohio, she started rowing in 2007 at the Dayton Boat Club. 

Cheer on the women’s eight at 4:50 a.m. ET on Saturday, August 3, as they compete in the final of the Olympic regatta.