It was a proud moment for the Laumann family when sisters Danielle and Silken stepped up to the presentation podium at the 1984 Summer Olympics to receive their bronze medal. The Los Angeles medal performance provided both Laumann sisters with their first taste of Olympic excitement.

Danielle, the older of the two, was a shoo-in to represent Canada in the problem-plagued 1980 Olympics in Moscow that was boycotted by most Western nations, including Canada, as a protest for the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. So Danielle missed out, a victim of politics. Younger Silken at that stage of her career was too far from being a serious contender. But four years and one Olympiad later, Los Angeles was just ripe for a taste test as Danielle and Silken as they rowed through the qualifying races to earn their Team Canada passports. Their coach at the Don Rowing Club in Port Credit was Mississauga News chief photographer Fred Loek, who charted the Laumann sisters’ competitive roadmap. Having watched the women’s doubles sculls finals on television, Freddie instantly recognized that his charges lacked the experience needed to win in a supercharged environment athletes encounter only in an Olympic pressure-cooker. They were also somewhat awestruck. Danielle and Silken looked strong over the first length of the course, but at the end didn’t quite have enough left in the tank to challenge for the gold.

     But to bask in the glow of an Olympic bronze medal is an experience most athletes dream of, but few ever get to realize.

     An Ontario scholar at Lorne Park Secondary School, Danielle Laumann — a member of the national rowing team — was Canada’s fastest singles sculler in the late 1970s and early ’80s. Her accomplishments in the racing shell were as impressive as her scholastic achievements: in 1979, she was women’s silver medallist in the Canadian championships and winner of a gold in the national junior doubles; in 1980, Central Ontario junior single champion; in 1981 Canadian women’s Senior and Open champion, and gold medal winner in the prestigious Henley Regatta junior women’s double; in 1982, Canadian women’s singles silver medallist; in 1983 quad gold medal winner in the U.S. national championships; in 1987 and ’88, quad gold medallist at the Henley regatta in St. Catharines.