Four-time Olympic rower Megan “Moose” Musnicki (pictured right) hung up the oars after Tokyo, got married and found her first real day job at age 39. That meant working in human resources at a data infrastructure company in the Bay Area. But the siren song of the 2022 Henley Royal Regatta in Oxfordshire beckoned and she entered, playfully, but she and her partner won.
“It showed that I was competitive compared to the rest of the group who were training full time,” the athlete told Women’s Health, recalling the realization that she had another Olympics to go. “If you enjoy[training]and can physiologically cope with the stress, then why not do it?”
Meghan’s husband, Skip Kielt, happens to be a rowing coach, and she began training with his crew of mostly male athletes while continuing to work full-time. And while she continued to work remotely, training from 7:15 a.m. to 4:15 p.m., she returned to the national team’s training base in Princeton, New Jersey, with a view to joining the Paris squad in early 2024.
Not that it wouldn’t have been a couple’s trip anyway — “He loved me and supported me and knew this was my dream” — but Skip also made his Olympic debut as coach of the U.S. men’s team.
“This is not a sport you do for money,” Meghan said. “This is not a sport you do for recognition. You do it because you love it.”
