Stesha Carle is entering her senior year at the University of Michigan . In July, she represented the United States in the women’s four at the 2005 FISA World Rowing Under 23 Championships in Amsterdam , the Netherlands , where she won a gold medal. Carle, a former junior national team member, was joined on the team by her brother, Dustin, who raced in the men’s quadruple sculls. Click here for Stesha's USRowing bio .

Obviously, winning a gold medal at U23 is a great accomplishment. Talk about your racing experience in Amsterdam .

Before leaving for Amsterdam , we were training in Princeton , New Jersey . We raced against the Senior and Junior National Teams. We posted a time of 6:42 , which our coach, Eleanor McElvaine, said would likely put us in the A Final. Wewere excited. We went to Amsterdam six days before the competition started. We did not know what to expect. We were staying at a hotel outside the city with almost all the other teams. We rowed on the Bosbaan International Regatta Course, which is an eight-lane course, maybe 2,050 meters in length.

The night before the heat we, Erin Cafaro, Megan Kalmoe, Catherine Starr and I sat in our hotel room discussing the race in the morning. There were two heats of five boats, and only the first place team from the heats would move on directly to the final. Since I was bow seat, I was responsible for making the calls for my boat. So, in our discussion of the race, I asked them what we wanted to do if we were not in a position to win after the 1,000-meter mark. Everyone wanted to go as fast as we could and try out our sprint against the international crews. Luckily, our sprint was what won the race. We ended up passing the leading crew, Canada , in the last 500 meters and won by open water. I think we shocked ourselves more than anyone else.

At that point, the French four and my four had two days of no racing, everyone else was going to race in the reps the next day. We continued to have two practices a day. We were given some time to look around Amsterdam . It is a beautiful city and I really enjoyed the Van Gogh Museum . At first it was nice to have time off from racing, but after the first day, I think we were all very anxious to race again. After looking at the results of the heats and reps, we realized that we were not going to be a leading crew at the start, but we knew we had a strong middle 1,000.

We decided not to make any changes for the final; we would race just as we did in the heat: internal and fast. We did just that. We started 2.5 seconds behind the leaders at the 500-meter mark and steadily walked our way up. This race was significantly harder than the heat. While pulling as hard as I could, the only call I could get out was "catches!" Eleanor told us that good catches would be the determining factor to win the race. In the last 250 meters, France started to make a move. It was too late. We had already decided that the medal was ours. We held on with all we had. We won by 1.91 seconds over France . Belarus came in third.

We were ecstatic and so were our moms. Everyone's mom had come to Amsterdam to watch the races. Our mothers had more cameras and took more pictures then the regatta media. Eleanor was in tears of joy and yet was still sternly coaching us on the medals dock.

What was this year's camp experience like?

Two words: very hard. Between 15 practices a week, riding my bike to and from practice, and heat training, this year's camp experience was harder than what I expected. The camp started June 3rd, only a few days after the NCAA Championships. The camp was in Seattle , Washington , and coached by Eleanor McElvaine and Mandi Kowal. There were 10 rowers competing for only four spots.

There was also a coxswain there, Mira Mehta, trying to gain experience on the National Team. The first two weeks, Eleanor stressed the importance of pair rowing. It was very challenging for most of us to steer and call commands on top of improving technically to match the other rowers. We did three pair matrices and numerous seat races. And of course, there was a 2k test the very first week. All 10 girls pulled within nine seconds of the top time. I was impressed by the speed of the girls I was to compete against. After the first two weeks, we started to row in fours and the four of us that went to Amsterdam didn't row in a boat together until a week before we left for Princeton .

You were a junior national team member as well. How did representing your country this time around differ from the first time?

Definitely the competition was more intense at this level, so I took it more seriously. What I was most excited about was our consistency. The middle two 500-meter pieces of both races (the heat and the final) held consistent times. Of course, when I was a junior, I was a lot younger. Robbie Tenenbaum was an excellent coach who focused on team building, something that worked well with the junior team. I am still friends with many of my teammates from Lithuania . This year the workload was a lot heavier with about 15 workouts a week and there was a stronger individual emphasis.

How did this camp experience differ from your junior national team camp experience?

Eleanor decided to use pairs as a selection tool, so this forced us to develop our pair rowing and steering skills. Training in Seattle was also different because we were responsible for our own food and housing. I was fortunate that my aunt and uncle, John and Diane Logan, provided housing, food and even a bicycle for me. Having their support was wonderful.

How has rowing at the Division I college level prepared you for international competition?

Rowing for Mark Rothstein and Emily Ford at Michigan prepared me well for this competition. At Michigan , I have become a better rower technically and mentally. Mark and Emily's emphasis on team building has helped me adapt quickly to new teams and teammates.

How did the levels of competition between the NCAAs and the Under 23 Worlds compare?

At the NCAAs we faced many crews who we had competed against all year long. We felt like we knew the competition and who the big players would be. When I went to the U23 Worlds, it was different because I knew relatively nothing about the other teams and how fast they might be. It was also different to hear commands in other languages while racing.

Both Michigan rowers came home with medals from the U23 Championships. What was it like having a college teammate with you on the national team?

It was great!  Brett Sickler is an awesome teammate and a determined competitor. She and her double's partner, Deborah Dryer, row really well. I was happy to cheer her on.

You also had a brother on the team. What was it like competing for your country with your brother as a teammate?

Dustin is not just my brother, he is my friend and one of my biggest competitors. We compare our erg scores (both 2ks and 6ks), allotting for the male to female time difference, meaning that in order to compare times, men should be about one minute faster on 2ks and three minutes faster on 6ks. Unfortunately, he is beating me on both 2ks and 6ks, which I am not happy to report. My gold medal in Amsterdam helped even the score.

What are your goals as a rower?

Although my goals continually change, I have always wanted to compete in the Olympics. I am going into my senior year at Michigan and therefore my current goals revolve around my team there. And as far as the rest of this summer, I am going to be coaching juniors for Ian Simpson, my former junior coach at Long Beach Junior Crew. If I have any time left, I might just hop in a single.