Bruggeman, U.S. Women’s Eight, Finish Second In Heat At Olympics

Molly Bruggeman (Notre Dame ’14) and the United States Olympic Women’s Rowing Team finished second in their heat at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris early Monday morning.

The U.S. W8+ will now enter Thursday’s repechage for a bid to qualify for the final medal race.

The U.S. finished in 6:19.0, behind 2023 World Champion Romania in 6:12.31 and ahead of Italy in third at 6:28.47.

The final medal race will feature six boats, with Romania and Great Britain winning the two heats on Monday, the repechage will determine the final four medal race slots (with five boats competing for the four spots).

The repechage is scheduled for 4:10 a.m. ET on Thursday, July 1. The final will then be held on Saturday at 4:50 a.m. ET.

The US Women’s 8+ placed second in their heat behind Romania this morning.

They will now race in the repechage on Thursday at 4:10 AM EDT for a spot in the final!

📸 @row2k #rowirish☘️ #teamusa #paris2024 pic.twitter.com/DLS1ymeVqJ

— Notre Dame Rowing (@NDRowing) July 29, 2024

Bruggeman’s spot on the team marks the fourth-consecutive Olympiad that a Notre Dame rower will be involved with the national team. Amanda Polk (‘08) was an alternate for the U.S. team in 2012, then won a gold medal with the women’s eight in Rio during the 2016 games. Bruggeman was an alternate for the 2020 games in Tokyo and has now earned a spot on one of the two boats that will compete for a medal in Paris.

A three-time All-American at Notre Dame from 2011-14, Bruggeman and Polk are the only three-time All-Americans in program history. Bruggeman led the Irish to a BIG EAST Championship in 2013 and a second-place conference finish in the team’s inaugural season in the ACC (2014). She also helped the Irish advance to the NCAA Championship regatta in 2012, 2013 and 2014, finishing as high as ninth in ‘14.

Bruggeman has been a part of nine U.S. national teams and has competed internationally in sculls, fours, pairs and eights along the way. She won gold in the four at the 2023 World Rowing Cup II and also claimed gold in the four at the 2017 World Rowing Championships. She also won the pair in the 2015 Pan American Games.

From Dayton, Ohio, Bruggeman graduated in 2015 from the University of Notre Dame with a degree in anthropology and pre-health. She has also served as an assistant coach with the Minnesota Rowing Team when she is not training for the national team in Princeton, New Jersey.