Bower, Palchikoff on All-Century Team
May 10, 2016 | Women's Rowing
SAN FRANCISCO – Former UCLA women's rowers Carol Bower and Jan Palchikoff have been selected to the Pac-12 Conference's Women's Rowing All-Century team, as announced Monday evening by Pac-12 Networks.
Palchikoff was among the sport's pioneers at UCLA, competing when the program served as a club sport in 1973 and later when the Bruins were awarded varsity letters in 1974 and 1975. Bower competed for the Bruins from 1978-79.
Inducted into UCLA's Athletic Hall of Fame in Nov. 2015, Palchikoff also competed on UCLA's swimming team. With Palchikoff on the women's rowing team, UCLA women's rowers competed at the U.S. Women's Rowing Association National Championships for the first time in 1974. One year later, while she was training for the World Championships in the quad sculls, the Bruin lightweight four won the program's first National Championship in women's rowing. Palchikoff was a 1976 and 1980 U.S. Olympian and was a five-time members (1975-77, 1979-80) of the U.S. National Rowing Team, representing the United States 13 times in international competition.
At the 1976 Olympics, the first year in which women's rowing was on the Olympic program, Palchikoff finished fifth in the double sculls. After completing her competitive elite rowing career and earned her Master's degree from the University of Massachusetts, she has remained heavily involved in sports. She was the women's rowing head coach at Syracuse from 1980-82 and at UC Santa Barbara from 1985-87.
Bower was a bronze medalist in the 1979 World Championships and joined the U.S. National Women's Rowing team in 1980. She was a three-time World Champion silver medalist (1981-83) and took home the gold medal in the eights during the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles. She was selected the Oarswoman of the Year in 1982 by the U.S. Olympic Committee and was inducted into the Rowing Hall of Fame in1984. Bower, who graduated from UCLA in 1979, served as the head coach of the University of Pennsylvania's women's rowing program from 1987-96 and currently serves as the head coach at Bryn Mawr College.
In all, the Pac-12 Conference's “All-Century Team” includes 25 total members, 22 of which have competed in 35 Olympic games. In all, members of the conference's All-Century Team have won 19 Olympic medals.
Also representing UCLA on the Men's Rowing All-Century Team are Kevin Still, Michael Still and Kerry Turner. Kevin Still competed for the Bruins from 1980-83, while Michael Still rowed for UCLA from 1985-87. Turner competed for UCLA from 1976-78.