Angela Madsen
Angela Madsen is a six-time member of the U.S. National Team and has combined with Scott Brown to form the most prolific duo in Paralympic rowing, winning four consecutive world championships from 2003-2006. In 2008, Madsen strove to continue her success and become one of the first medalists in the sport of rowing at the Paralympic Games in Beijing, China. Madsen just missed out on medaling, as she and Brown finished fourth in the mixed double sculls - TA.
she'll hope to be a medalist for the first U.S. team to compete in rowing at the Paralympic Games.
An elite athlete prior to her injury, Madsen has participated in numerous adaptive sports at the international level and is the founder of the California Adaptive Rowing Program. While her sport triumphs are too numerous to mention, Angela's other sports include wheelchair basketball, surfing and ocean rowing. Angela surfed in the 2006 Women's World Championships of Surfing in Biarritz, France, and can regularly be spotted at her local beach breaks.
In December of 2007, Madsen teamed up with Franck Festor of France to compete in the 2007 Atlantic Rowing Race, which spans 2,552 nautical miles from the Canary Islands to Antigua. On their boat Row of Life, the duo was the only team made up of athletes with physical disabilities and finished eighth out of 13 boats. Madsen said that, for her, the reason for competing was, "to inspire, motivate and effect positive changes in the lives of those who are born ‘differently-abled' and those who suffer serious trauma in their lives."
In February 2003, Madsen was a recipient of the Amateur Athletic Foundation's "Women Who Inspire Us" Award, and received the Leo Reilly, Jr. Award for outstanding spirit and determination in September of that year. She is a veteran of the United States Marine Corps and a lifetime member of the Disabled American Veterans and the Paralyzed Veterans of America.
For more about Angela, check out her Web site by visiting
Major Achievements:
- 2009: First female and woman with a disability to row across the Indian Ocean
- 2008: U.S. Paralympic Team member, Rowing - Paralympic Games, Beijing, China
- 2008: First place, adaptive double skulls - U.S. Rowing National Championships
- 2007: Eighth place, pairs class (with France's Franck Festor) - Atlantic Rowing Race
- 2007: Fifth place, adaptive double skulls - FISA World Championships, Munich, Germany
- 2006: Gold medal, adaptive double sculls - FISA World Championships, Eton, England
- 2005: Gold medal, adaptive double sculls - FISA World Championships
- 2004: Gold medal, adaptive double sculls - FISA World Championships
- 2003: Gold medal, adaptive double sculls - FISA World Championships
- 2002: Silver medal, adaptive single sculls - FISA World Championships
- 2001: First place, adaptive double sculls - Catalina Crossing (32-mile ocean race)
