Susan Francia

Zsuzsanna "Susan" Francia[1] (Hungarian: Francia Zsuzsanna; born November 8, 1982[2]) is a Hungarian-American two time Olympic gold medalist rower. Growing up in Abington, Pennsylvania, she attended Abington Senior High School, followed by the University of Pennsylvania, graduating in 2004 with bachelor's and a master's degrees in Criminology and Sociology. She currently resides in Princeton, New Jersey, and is affiliated with the US Rowing Training Center.

The native form of this personal name is Francia Zsuzsanna. This article uses Western name order when mentioning individuals.
Susan Francia
Personal information
Full nameZsuzsanna Francia
NationalityHungarian
American
BornNovember 8, 1982 (1982-11-08) (age 40)
Szeged, Hungary
Medal record
Women's rowing
Representing the  United States
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place2008 BeijingWomen's eight
Gold medal – first place2012 LondonWomen's eight
FISA World Rowing Championships
Gold medal – first place 2006 Eton Women's eight
Gold medal – first place 2007 Munich Women's eight
Gold medal – first place 2009 Poznan Women's eight
Gold medal – first place 2009 Poznan Coxless Pairs
Gold medal – first place 2011 Lake Bled Women's eight
Silver medal – second place2014 AmsterdamW4−
Bronze medal – third place 2010 Lake Karapiro Coxless Pairs

Francia is the daughter of Hungarian biochemist and renowned mRNA researcher Katalin Karikó. She is fluent in Hungarian.[3][4]

Rowing career

Francia began rowing as a sophomore at the University of Pennsylvania in 2001.[5] She was a Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association Division I All-American at the University of Pennsylvania in 2004.[6] After graduating, she spent ten years as a member of the U.S. Rowing Senior National Team and won a gold medal in women's eight at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, China and the 2012 Olympics in London, England.[7][8]

Francia won the Remenham Cup Remenham Challenge Cup at the 2011 and 2006 Henley Royal Regatta. At the FISA World Rowing Championships in 2006, Francia won the gold medal in the women's eight with a new world's best time of 5:55.50.[6]

In addition to her international accomplishments, she won the championship eight at the 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, and 2012 Head of the Charles Regatta in Cambridge, Massachusetts. She won the eight and finished third in the pair at the 2007 US Rowing National Championships. She won the double sculls at the second 2006 National Selection Regatta and finished second in the four at the 2004 U.S. National Team Trials. Francia finished second in the pair at the second 2008 National Selection Regatta, won the pair at all three 2010 Regattas and won the pair at the second 2011 Regatta. [9]

Coaching

Francia has been an assistant coach for UCSD Women's Rowing team for the 2017–18 and 2018–19 seasons.[10] In addition, she was formerly the head coach of the Junior Women's Varsity Rowing team at the San Diego Rowing Club.[11]

References
  1. Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Susan Francia". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on April 17, 2020.
  2. "Susan Francia". United States Olympic Committee. 2008. Archived from the original on August 15, 2008. Retrieved August 17, 2008.
  3. "Karikó Katalin: Vakcinát fejleszteni elsősorban morális kötelezettség (Interview with Katalin Karikó)" (in Hungarian). HVG. December 5, 2020. Retrieved December 28, 2020.
  4. Tonya Simpson (June 28, 2021). "Olympic rowing gold medalist's mom helped develop the COVID-19 vaccines". ESPN.com. Retrieved March 14, 2023.
  5. "Former Quaker Wins Second World Rowing Title". University of Pennsylvania Athletics. September 5, 2007. Retrieved March 14, 2023.
  6. "Susan Francia". Team USA. Retrieved March 14, 2023.
  7. "Penn Athletes in the Olympics". almanac.upenn.edu. June 15, 2021. Retrieved March 14, 2023.
  8. "Susan Francia - Women's Lwt Rowing Coach". Stanford University Athletics. Retrieved March 14, 2023.
  9. Ed Hewitt (July 24, 2012). "Susan Francia - Four Years Later". row2k.com. Retrieved March 14, 2023.
  10. UCSD Tritons Archived July 14, 2019, at the Wayback Machine Susan Francia - Assistant Coach
  11. sdnews.com Archived September 25, 2019, at the Wayback Machine "San Diego junior rowers sweep competition at Desert Sprints"
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