When Canada’s Women’s Eight took to the water during the London Olympics, they won silver, and one of their rowers has the spirit of Trent University’s Champlain College with her as the College’s first scholar/athlete in residence.

Ms. Brzozowicz will be coming to Trent in September to take on her new role, which will involve mentoring Trent students, participating in Champlain College events, and working with Active Living Learning Community to encourage building active and healthy lifestyle habits for students. As scholar/athlete in residence, Ms. Brzozowicz will be participating in a series of public events as well as small group activities, including planned programming and more spontaneous activities based on individual student interests. Outside of the College, she will also be working with Trent student-athletes.

“The Olympics tap into two key themes of Champlain College: global citizenship and living an adventurous, active life,” says Dr. Michael Allcott, head of Champlain College. “Ashley has competed in the Olympics more than once, and in world class competitions; she's also a top student who graduated from Yale. She'll have the Spirit of Champlain behind her during the Olympics as our college community cheers her on this summer. And we'll have the spirit of an Olympian as a part of our college life for Fall Term.”

As an Olympic rower, Ms. Brzozowicz has been training with the Canadian National Team since 2006. She was born in Toronto, Ontario but lived the United States for much of her childhood. She started rowing in 1997 while in high school in Chicago, Illinois and continued her rowing career at Yale University in Connecticut. She graduated from Yale in 2004 with a degree in History of Art and a second place finish at the 2004 NCAA Rowing Championships.

In 2006, she moved to London, Ontario to join the training group with National Team full-time. She made the senior team for the first time in 2006 and has continued to be a part of the women's eight every year through 2012. During that time she competed in the 2008 Beijing Olympics and finished in 4^th place. In 2010 & 2011, the women's eight won back-to-back silver medals at the World Rowing Championships in the lead up to the 2012 Olympic Games in London, England.

Ms. Brzozowicz also has a previous connection to Trent. She is married to Trent Ph.D. student Roy Dykstra and will be spending the next four years in Peterborough.

In talking about this new role at Trent, Ms. Brzozowicz said: "This is an amazing opportunity.  And I would love for Champlain students to follow my journey through the Olympics!"