Community Corner

Charlie Cole Takes Bronze in Olympics Rowing

New Canaan High School graduate Charlie Cole scores bronze with his team at finals in London.

 

From New Canaan High School to the greatest competition on earth, Charlie Cole has come a long way to the 2012 Olympics in London and his hard work has paid off. 

Cole, 25, along with his U.S. Men's Four rowing crew, landed the bronze medal Saturday in the four with his team - the first for the U.S. since 1992, according to the US Rowing website.

Find out what's happening in New Canaanwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

“Certainly I think people have to be excited about the work we’ve put in,” said Cole. “We put in a lot of hard work since last year. We’re young guys and we have a lot to look forward to and we’ll have to think about and reflect on our performance and let the dust settle. But we have a lot to be confident about, and hopefully, a lot to look forward to in our rowing careers," reported US Rowing.

The U.S., which finished at 6:07.20 was beat out by Great Britain, taking gold at 6:03.97, and Australia, taking silver at 6:05.19, according to US Rowing.

Find out what's happening in New Canaanwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

 

Original Story

Two Connecticut residents are headed to the finals in their respective sports this week with hopes of bringing home a medal.

Donn Cabral of Glastonbury qualified for the Olympic 3,000-meter steeplechase finals on Sunday, running an 8 minute, 21 second race and finishing fourth in the third qualifying heat Friday.

Cabral finished the 16-runner heat with a time of 8:21.46 after having led the field at the 1,000 and 2,000-meter intervals of the race. Ethiopia's Roba Gari passed Cabral in the third interval of the race, finishing in first place with a time of 8:20.68.

There were three heats of 13 racers each; the top 15 qualifying times across all three heats would qualify for Sunday's final, which is scheduled for 4:25 p.m.

Charlie Cole of New Canaan and his rowing teammates will also have a chance to win an Olympic medal after

Cole and his teammates — Scott Gault (Piedmont, Calif.), Henrik Rummel (Pittsford, N.Y.) and Glenn Ochal (Philadelphia) — are scheduled to race on Saturday at 5:30 a.m.

Cole reportedly got his start in rowing at Norwalk's Maritime Rowing Club during his freshman year at NCHS in 1999..

"Rowing in New Canaan was just starting then, so the program wasn't very developed, but I thought I would try it out," Cole said in a recent report in the CT Post. "It took a long time before I realized I could be decent."


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here