About Ali Cox: in one word…determined.
In 2004, with a World Championship title and an Olympic silver medal under her belt, Cox left the rowing world to pursue a new set of dreams and endeavors. After cutting her teeth at IMG, the world's leading sports marketing, media, and entertainment firm, Cox applied the risk-taking drive and determination that had earned her an Olympic medal to launch her own marketing consultancy in 2008. Now, adding six years of varied life experiences and perspectives to her skill set, Cox has rededicated herself to the Olympic dream. With her eyes firmly set on making the London 2012 US Women's 8+, a familiar and challenging road lies ahead. One that will require a little humility and a whole lot of fun! Ali is looking forward to sharing the trials and tribulations involved in converting her body and mind back into elite form after years away from the sport. She hopes that her blog will inspire others to jump up and set new seemingly unattainable goals along with her!
A native of Montréal, Québec, Andréanne has travelled around the world with her oars and boats representing Canada. From her early days as a junior rower in Ottensheim, Austria (1998) through two Olympic Games (Athens 2004 and Beijing 2008), Andréanne has visited countries and discovered local cultures from their waterways! She now has her sights set on the London 2012 Games and, with relentless work and commitment, wants to create another chance to achieve that medal that narrowly escaped her in 2008!
As a graduate from Princeton University, and now taking a leave of absence from the Law Faculty at l’Université de Montréal, rowing has often been a complement to Andréanne’s academic endeavours. The months leading up to the London Games, however, are strictly dedicated to training and rowing. Her posts focus on the excitement and thrills experienced during the countdown to the London Olympics with the gruelling workouts and challenges of achieving that ambition.
Cady Hart-Petterssen found rowing as a freshman at the University of Connecticut. Having never pulled on an oar in her life, the team recruiter grabbed her and her tall friend to test her on the erg. Cady jumped on and hauled away and found her future sport. Her tenacity and natural mobility allowed her to excel in a long person's sport, despite standing 5'5", and she went on to captain the UConn heavyweight boat for three years. Since college, Cady spent time as a yoga instructor while getting a Masters in Exercise Science at Colorado State, then worked as a Corporate Wellness Program Manager and Wellness Coach before moving to Vermont and finding CrossFit. That same passion she had for rowing led Cady to a full time CrossFit coaching job and she was soon competing at the CrossFit Games Northeast Regionals.
Cady became co-owner of Green Mountain CrossFit in 2012 and has since developed a three day a week CrossFit program at the Concept2 headquarters in Morrisville, Vermont, for employees. Cady has also created a successful CrossFit Rowing program at GMCF, teaching many of their athletes the joy of indoor rowing and contributing to the CrossFit Rowing Facebook programming. Through this experience in her own gym and with Concept2, Cady is now also a trainer with CrossFit Rowing.
Chris Wilson, a native of St. Catharines, Ontario, is Concept2's former In-House Coach and Rowing Advisor. Chris previously worked as a national team coach with the U.S. Women's Rowing team leading up to the 2004 Olympics. She has extensive experience coaching scullers and sweep athletes and has also been a successful coach of men's and women's crews at the collegiate (Yale University, Cornell University), junior and elite levels.
Greg was first introduced to the Concept2 Indoor Rower while studying in college for his Bachelors in Health Science. While playing for the rugby team, his coach put him on an indoor rower for the first time. It was instant respect for what the "erg" could do for his fitness. After graduation, and three years running his own corporate wellness business, he found his way back to Vermont to work for Concept2.
Greg has been with Concept2 since 1996 and works very closely with the growing motocross and mixed martial arts markets as well as with CrossFit, Police and Fire departments. Currently Greg lives in Johnson, Vermont with his wife Laurie and still races motocross locally and has started to learn Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. When he is not on the road for Concept2 he enjoys training local athletes and getting the most out of living in Vermont by snowboarding, mountain biking, running and Nordic ski racing.
Jameson resides in Burlington, Vermont. His love/hate relationship with the “erg” matured after joining a local CrossFit affiliate in 2013. Jameson joined Concept2 in 2015. When not trying to keep up with his coworkers on the RowErg, Jameson can be found at Concept2 on the marketing team. Outside of Concept2, Jameson spends times with his dogs and tries to take advantage of the Vermont landscape by hiking, biking and skiing.
Jennie Bender currently skis on a professional Olympic development team based out of the Midwest called Central Cross Country, also known as the CXC Elite Team. A home-grown Vermonter, she graduated from the University of Vermont in 2010 before heading west to explore.
Jennie has skied at the 2008, 2009 and 2011 World Junior and U23 Championships and had multiple top 10 placements at the US Nationals. She podiumed twice at the Canadian Nationals and won the 2011 Classic American Birkebeiner. While skiing for the University of Vermont, she was a three-time NCAA competitor and one year NCAA All-American (top 10). In addition to skiing, Jennie enjoys running, road biking, dancing, riding horses and playing ultimate frisbee.
Judy Geer learned to row in college, and gradually realized that there was no way she was going to "grow up" and stop rowing after her graduation from Dartmouth College in 1975. She went on to compete on three US Olympic Rowing teams in '76, '80 and '84. During this time she also coached rowing, and then went back to get a Masters in Engineering, also at Dartmouth. When she graduated, she joined Concept2, which had been started in 1976 by Dick Dreissigacker (now her husband) and his brother Peter. As happens in family businesses, her responsibilities have migrated over the years as the company has grown. She is currently a member of the Marketing and Communications Team.
Kevin came to Concept2 in 2010. He rowed at both Hobart College and Dartmouth College, where he earned a B.E. in Mechanical Engineering. He also holds an M.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Vermont and is a licensed Professional Engineer in the state of Vermont. When not breaking things in the Self Propulsion Laboratory, he can be found backcountry and nordic skiing, mountain biking, rowing, or enjoying his own homebrewed beer. Kevin's wife and dog are kind enough to let him live with them in Morrisville.
Linda began rowing as an undergraduate at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). After being recruited for a one-day intramural rowing competition, she decided to give the varsity rowing team a try.
Linda's 30+ years of coaching experience spans all age groups and skill levels. In addition to 20 years of collegiate coaching (which included stints at Cornell, Harvard, Dartmouth, and MIT), Linda has coached club and masters athletes around the country. A US National Team coach for 12 years now, she is currently working with Tokyo Olympic 2020 hopefuls.
A 9-time US Team member, Linda is a 3-time World Champion who continues to enjoy her own time rowing as well as accumulating meters in various online Challenges. In the fall you can find her at head races, and in the winter she's pulling 2ks on the RowErg.
Martin started rowing in 1987. After a year as a foreign exchange student in Casper, Wyoming, he started rowing competitively in Hamburg, Germany in 1990 and has loved the sport ever since. Talk about love: when he was coaching at his rowing club in Hamburg, he met his future wife Tina, who—what else?—was one of his rowers. Martin has been with Concept2 since 1998 when he started working for the German dealership. Since 2008, he has been in charge of sales to the Asia Pacific region and South America.
Meredith started rowing in high school. She quickly fell in love with early morning practices, erg tests, blisters, and track bite. She continued her rowing career at Cornell University. After graduation, she switched her focus to running and triathlon.
At Concept2, Meredith is a member of the marketing team, tasked with growing new markets for the indoor rower. She currently rows with her husband, Erik, as a member of Green Mountain Rowing. They stay active with rowing, running, triathlons, skiing and chasing after their two daughters.
Nick Petterssen is a lifelong athlete, dating back to the days of elementary school recess when playground kickball stoked his passion for competitive play. He eventually found that his body type was a good match for the sport of volleyball and went on to have a successful collegiate career playing on the University of Colorado indoor team, and played for a brief stint on the AVP professional beach volleyball tour.
After a knee injury sidelined him from volleyball, Nick moved to Northern Wisconsin to work as an outdoor educator and converted his past passion for alpine skiing into a new discipline of skate skiing. Training as an endurance athlete led to other sports, such as running, then triathlon, then eventually road racing. Always a jack of all trades, when CrossFit stumbled into Nick's life he loved the fact that being good at everything made you very good at one thing. Nick opened Vermont's first CrossFit gym in 2009, met his wife Cady Hart-Petterssen through that process, and they now own and operate Green Mountain CrossFit together. With the Concept2 Indoor Rower such a critical piece to the world of CrossFit, Nick began honing his indoor rowing technique, and when Concept2 introduced the SkiErg his world was made complete.
Patrick Brown joined Concept2 in 2011 as the Rowing Business Coordinator. Pat brings to Concept2 over 10 years of coaching experience at high school and collegiate levels. Patrick lives in San Diego, California, with his wife Anna, their son Mclean and their dog Bojangles.
Peter Dreissigacker, along with his brother Dick, founded Concept2 in 1976. The idea for the company grew out of a graduate course they took together at Stanford University, combined with their love of rowing.
In 1976, the two brothers were competing for a spot on the U.S Olympic Team, and they saw a need for a lighter, stiffer, faster oar. After a series of kitchen experiments with carbon fiber and fiberglass, they developed the first viable, affordable composite racing oar to hit the market. In 1992, their innovation again changed the face of rowing with the introduction of the "Big Blade", an asymmetrical hatchet-shaped blade that offered a speed advantage of several percent.
In 1981, they developed the first Concept2 Indoor Rower, known familiarly as the Erg. The indoor rower rapidly became the standard for wind-resistance rowing machines. In addition to his work at Concept2, Peter continues to row competitively both on and off the water, and enjoys backcountry skiing for variety in the winter.
He also makes time for painting and drawing, and at 59, is a novice piano student and closet accordion player.
My name is Sam Loch and I'm currently preparing for the 2012 London Olympics where I hope to be in either the Australian Men's Heavyweight 4+ or 8+. I live in Canberra, Australia's capital city, and train at the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS). Last year I was fortunate to be in the Australian Men's 8+ that won bronze at the World Championships and we hope to make that gold in 2012. Prior to training with the national team I rowed at Princeton University and graduated in 2006. My interests pertain mainly to athletic performance, nutrition and training. I also enjoy cycling, running and lifting weights. I’m a fan of mixed martial arts, professional cycling and rugby. Away from sport I enjoy watching movies, reading, spending time with my girlfriend and 1-year-old Labrador, Bonnie.
Terry has been a master trainer with Concept2 since 1999, and has focused particularly on applying rowing to adaptive audiences, including seniors, the overweight and obese, and physically and cognitively impaired rowers. Her career in the fitness industry spans more than 30 years in both the United States and Norway, including 18 years as Fitness Director for Aspirus Keweenaw Hospital in Houghton and Laurium, Michigan, where she also serves as race director for numerous events, including the Aspirus Keweenaw Copperman Triathlon.
A former elite level rower, Terry trained for the 1980 and 1984 Olympic Games. She founded the Michigan Technological University Rowing Club in 1995 and remains its head coach today. A passionate advocate of indoor rowing as well, in 2007 and 2008 she led residents of her small community to victory in the month-long World Rowing Challenge. Her community work has been recognized with numerous state and local awards and she has served on a variety of health and fitness-related boards, including the Michigan Governor’s Council on Physical Fitness, Health and Sports.