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Wisconsin rower heading to the Olympics for the 4th time

Posted at 6:16 PM, Jul 27, 2021
and last updated 2021-07-27 19:16:07-04

A Wisconsin rower doesn't mind stirring up trouble, along with the water. But Megan Kalmoe is certainly making history by appearing in Tokyo.

"The number one rule of being bad is don't get caught!" Megan Kalmoe says with a laugh.

On her Twitter account, Kalmoe has rowing team troublemaker. What does that involve?

"Sometimes, the grownups in the group don't like it when the athletes tell them things," Kalmoe says. "So I have a bit of a reputation for making sure that they do take a second to listen to what's going on with us," Kalmoe says.

Kalmoe is a rare four-time Olympian.

Lance Allan of TMJ4 Sports: "But it is very, very rare. What does that mean to you to do that accomplishment?"

"It's definitely not something that I set out to do when I was, you know starting rowing," Kalmoe says. "As a walk-on at the University of Washington, it wasn't like, 'hey, I know what I'm going to do. I'm going to row for 20 years!'"

But to Kalmoe's credit, she's done it differently, rowing double and quad and pairs to get there - this time overcoming injury a few years ago with Tracy Eisser, earning the last two spots in rowing pairs.

"Had a little bit of a rocky road in between 2019 and 2020, just kind of classic pair stuff. There's just sometimes some stuff that comes up that you guys have to work out, " Kalmoe says. "Doing what's popular or doing what's expected of you is fine. But there's always a place for people who want to do something different, or do something that they really love. I was just very honored that Tracy would put her faith and her trust in me to do something a little crazy, because it is a little crazy to kind of wait until the last minute and put everything all into one basket and then be like 'OK, either we're in or we're out.'"

Megan was born in Minneapolis, but Saint Croix Falls is where she grew up.

"That's where I kind of did most of my young, formative, adult life, so yeah, I would consider Wisconsin my home state and Saint Croix Falls my hometown," Kalmoe says.

And if you think Megan is going for a fifth Olympics appearance? Let's shut that talk down right now.

"No, this is definitely my last one," Kalmoe says with a laugh. "I know I said that last time before Rio, but I'm really done this time. I'm pretty sure my boyfriend would break up with me, if we tried to do another one."

Kalmoe won bronze in London and says coaching youth rowing is not out of the question after a much needed break.

See all of our Olympics coverage at TMJ4.com/Olympics

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