ANGELA MADSEN

Angela Madsen is a 48 year old Grandmother of three from Long Beach, CA who loves to surf. She is a veteran of the United States Marine Corps and a life member of both the Disabled American Veterans and the Paralyzed Veterans of America. Angela also enjoys working with newly injured vets to get them involved with adaptive sports. In February of 2003, the Amateur Athletic Foundation named Angela as a recipient of the Women Who Inspire Us Award; in September of 2003, she received the Leo Reilly, Jr. Award for outstanding spirit and determination. On February 7, 2008, she became the first Differently-Abled woman to ROW across the Atlantic Ocean. Her rowing partner, Franck Festor, an amputee from France, did not speak English and Angela does not speak French. They rowed nearly 3000 miles in 67 days, coming in 8th place in the pair’s class. There were 22 boats in the race and they were the only physically challenged athletes.www.rowoflife.net Angela is also on the US Rowing Team and competed in the 2008 Paralympics in Beijing, China. She is a 4 time World Championship Gold Medalist and a Level 3 Rowing Coach. She is the Founder and Director of the California Adaptive Rowing Program, a non-profit program which teaches differently-abled people to row. www.carplb.net