Caroline Queen
Caroline Queen (born March 5, 1992 in Knoxville, Tennessee) is an American slalom canoer. At the 2012 Summer Olympics she competed in the K-1 event,[1] finishing 17th in the heats, failing to qualify for the semifinals. She graduated from Davidson College in Davidson, North Carolina with a B.S. in Psychology in May 2014.
Caroline first began paddling slalom at Valley Mill Camp in her hometown of Darnestown, MD at the age of nine. She soon entered regular training in the summer of 2002, when she began working with the US Junior Team coach, Martin Nevaril. With Martin’s guidance, she blossomed as a young paddler. In 2006, then fourteen-year-old Queen attended her first US National team trials, when surprised the slalom community by winning Day 2 of the competition. The following year Caroline had a falling out with Martin over comments he felt were expressing anti-Polish sentiment, after which she began training with National Team coach Silvan Poberaj. Caroline has since clarified that she "meant that there are certain inherent cultural and racial differences" and that she was frustrated after many uncomfortable experiences with Polish canoers. With help from both Poberaj and former team member Joe Jacobi, she became the youngest woman ever to make the US National team. She has been on the National Team since then, competing every year except 2009 when she suffered an ACL injury. Now an Olympian, she continues to train in Charlotte, NC. She attended The Bullis School in Potomac, MD.
References
- ↑ "Caroline Queen". London 2012. The London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games Limited. Retrieved 13 September 2012.