AERIAL GILBERT

Adaptive Four with Coxswain

Hometown: Tiburon, Calif.

Current Residence: Petaluma, Calif.

Club Affiliation: Marin Rowing Association

Began Rowing: Humboldt State University, 1975

Date of Birth: 3/13/54 

Height: 5’7” 

Weight: 134

High School: Redwood High School

Undergraduate Education: Humboldt State, 1976; Mills College, 1984

Occupation: Outreach Director, Guide Dogs for the Blind

Current Coaches: Deirdre McLoughlin, Karen Lewis

International Results: Finished fifth in the adaptive four with coxswain at the 2007 FISA World Championships...Finished fifth in the adaptive four with coxswain at the 2006 FISA World Championships...Finished seventh in the adaptive four with coxswain at the 2004 FISA World Championships...Finished fourth in the adaptive four with coxswain at the 2003 FISA World Championships...Won bronze in the adaptive four with coxswain at the 2002 FISA World Championships.

Personal: Aerial is a five-time adaptive national team member...She won two gold medals in non-adaptive events at the 2005 World Masters Games and competes regularly with Marin Rowing Association’s advanced masters’ team (non-adaptive)...Aerial lists her most memorable sporting achievement as the first time she raced in a non-adaptive event in her single against sighted competitors...Aerial lost her sight in 1988 after picking up some over-the-counter eye drops that had been tampered with...She lists Russell Redenbaugh, a successful blind businessman and competitive athlete in Jujitsu, as one of the most influential people in her life as he taught her that being blind was just a major inconvenience and not a disability...Aerial is married to Larry Lobel...She is a member of the Jewish Sports Hall of Fame and the Northern California Jewish Sports Hall of Fame...Aerial hugs her guide dog, Hedda, before every race.

(updated 8/13/2007)