LONDON — In addition to the seven Yale graduates competing in London, a recent Athletics Department hire is representing her country on the water.

Sarah Trowbridge, Yale’s new assistant women’s crew coach, is currently rowing in the double sculls competition. After finishing third in her initial heat, Trowbridge will race in Tuesday’s repechage round in an effort to qualify for the medal race.

This is the first Olympics for Trowbridge, who was hired by Yale July 19 and has been on the U.S. national team for five years. The 2006 University of Michigan graduate is coming off a strong year in international competition. Racing in the double sculls, she finished second at the 2011 Rowing World Cup in Munich, eighth in the 2011 Rowing World Cup in Lucerne, and ninth at the 2011 World Rowing Championships.

“I am really looking forward to joining the Yale team,” Trowbridge told Yale Athletics in July while preparing for the Olympics in England. “Coming to the position with such a recent history as an athlete will help me to relate my coaching more accurately to the rowers. I also hope to excite the women with my experiences on the Olympic team and encourage them to push the limits on their own speed.”

Men’s hockey head coach Keith Allain ’80, an assistant for the American ice hockey team at the 2006 Salt Lake games, was the last Yale coach to participate in the Olympics.

Correction: July 31 2012

An earlier photo accompanying this blog post, supplied by Yale Athletics, showed American rower Margot Shumway, not Sarah Trowbridge.