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Former Central athlete Michini lands return trip to Olympics By The Gazette Staff Monica Tranel Michini, who grew up on a Broadview ranch but developed into a world-class rower, is headed back to the Olympic Games.
The former Billings Central athlete qualified in the women’s single sculls Wednesday after finishing third at the FISA European Olympic Qualification Regatta in Lucerne, Switzerland. For the 34-year-old Michini, this will be her second straight appearance at the Olympics. She rowed at the Atlanta Games in 1996, finishing fourth as part of the women’s eight crew. During Wednesday’s finals, Michini held the lead at the 1,500-meter mark, before Sweden’s Maria Brandin put together a winning surge in the final 500 meters to prevail in the tight race. Brandin, the bronze medalist in the 1997 and 1998 world championships, covered the 2,000-meter course in 7:54.12. Great Britain’s Alison Mowbray was second at 7:55.22, with Michini getting third at 7:55.87. Only the top three finishers in the six-boat finals qualified for the Olympics. The Olympic rowing events begin Sept. 17 in Sydney, Australia, and run through Sept. 24. After Wednesday’s qualifying, the United States rowing team will have a full squad of 14 boats competing in Sydney. The United States is the only country to qualify all of its boats for the Olympics. The traveling squad for the U.S. team will consist of 48 rowers. At the Olympics, there will be eight rowing events for men and six for women. The finals for the women’s single sculls will be held Saturday, Sept. 23. Michini competes in a sleek, 27-foot-long boat made of Kevlar, the same synthetic fiber used in bulletproof vests. She powers the boat with a pair of fiberglass oars. The 6-foot, 160-pound Michini, an attorney, has lived in Missoula with her husband, Fred, for nearly three years. They moved to Montana from Philadelphia. A native of Sheridan, Wyo., Michini is a 1984 graduate of Billings Central. She commuted to high school from the family’s cattle/wheat ranch in Broadview. Michini is the second former Billings high school athlete to qualify for the coming Olympics. She is following in the footsteps of marathoner Christine Clark, a 1980 Billings West graduate who is now living in Anchorage, Alaska. Michini’s parents, Ned and Virginia Tranel, live in Billings. Monica is one of 10 children. As part of her recent Olympic training, Michini rowed on the Milltown Reservoir near Missoula. Michini also trained in Flagstaff, Ariz., Philadelphia, Austria, and Switzerland. She won the U.S. Olympic trials in June in Princeton, N.J. She won her heat Monday in Lucerne to advance directly into Wednesday’s finals. Michini caught the rowing bug in 1984 at Gonzaga University in Spokane, Wash., after a knee injury forced her to stop playing basketball. After graduating from Gonzaga, Michini completed work on her law degree at Rutgers University (Piscataway, N.J.). She also pursued her interest in rowing. Michini has won seven U.S. National Championships, including the double and quadruple sculls in 1999. She finished seventh in the single sculls at the 1999 World Championships. She collected a gold medal is the women’s eight at the 1995 World Championships. Her husband was a bronze medalist on the lightweight national rowing team in 1985. They were married on the Broadview ranch in May 1993. Michini is expected to remain in Switzerland through the weekend and compete in the Lucerne World Cup event. The rowing and canoe venue for the Olympics opened in March of 1996 and is located about 28 miles from Sydney Olympic Park. It has seating for 16,000 spectators, but the grass-covered banks of the course can accommodate an additional 10,000 spectators.
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