Elle (Eleanor) Logan, a 24-year-old Boothbay Harbor native, rowed to her second consecutive Olympic gold medal as a member of the 2012 USA Women’s Eight 2000 team.
The USA women’s eight team rowed to victory on July 27 in Eton Dorney, England. The 6’2″ athlete rowed from seat number six to earn her second gold medal, having rowed with the 2008 women’s eight team that won gold in Beijing, China.
Logan was one of six seasoned veterans on the 2012 gold medal winning team, but in 2008 she was the youngest member of the team that defeated three-time Olympic champions, Romania.
The USA team were the favorites to win last week, having gone undefeated on the World Cup circuit for six straight years. Their last loss was in 2006 in Lucerne.
The USA and Canada advanced to Thursday’s finals, with Canada having the fastest seed time. USA had beaten Canada by just .03 seconds at the World Cup. The two teams battled it out for the gold medal with the USA winning in 6:10.59, 1.1 seconds ahead of their neighbors to the north.
Logan has always been athletic, playing basketball, tennis and field hockey in middle school and swimming at the Boothbay Y. She attended Brooks School, a boarding high school in Andover, Mass., where all students had to sign up for a sport every semester.
“My teacher said I looked like I’d be a good rower.” Logan said in a 2008 LCN interview.
Her first experience rowing a shell was a little hair-raising. “I thought I needed a seatbelt,” she said. “The shell was very narrow and really close to the water and the sides were not very high. The slide moves up and down in the eight-person shell. I thought it was moving really fast.”
When asked when she first realized she had a talent for rowing, Logan said, “my coach realized it before I did. My coach called the Junior National Team coach and told him I was pretty tall (6’2”), pretty strong and had potential.
“I attended the Junior National Team development camp and then made the 2005 Junior National team.”
While at Brooks, Logan, on the women’s four team, won the New England and National Championships.
In 2005, she placed fourth in the Eight World Jr. Championships, first in the 2005 U.S. National Championships in Elite Open Eight, and first in the 2005 U.S. National Championships Women’s Senior Eight.
From Brooks, Elle moved on to Stanford University (class of 2011) “Once I started training year ’round (as a freshman), I developed my potential,” she said.
In 2008, after wining her first gold medal, Logan did not realize that her hometown and state had raised her to celebrity status. “I wasn’t thinking about returning home,” she said. “I was overwhelmed by everyone’s excitement and support. I did not realize how it affected everyone, in a good way. It was nice to see so many people supporting me.
“Maine did a pretty good job publicizing their Olympians. They had an Elle Logan Day at the Boothbay Y. I came in on a lobster boat to the town dock and was met by Sen. Collins and the selectmen. They presented me with the keys to the city. The key was an oar; I loved it. We paraded to the Y.”