Karlson, once a three-time rowing world champion, currently practices as a family medicine and sports medicine physician at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, and has been out of the boat for several years.
Nonetheless, Karlson will serve as an essential part of the U.S. team, looking after the health of the U.S. rowing, canoe, kayak and triathlon squads as they compete for potential gold medals.
"I'm really looking forward to the whole experience," Karlson said, noting that the voyage will mark her first trip to China. " Going as a credentialed official, I have access to all the venues. It really is a very different experience than I would experience as a tourist."
On Friday , Karlson will meet up with the team in San Francisco, where the group will spend a day being processed for the trip before heading to Beijing.
The U.S. men's and women's rowing squads headed to Beijing represent the second largest American contingent competing at the 2008 Olympics, second only to track and field. In addition to rowers, the team consists of two flat-water canoers, five white-water kayakers and six triathletes -- including Jarrod Shoemaker '04.
Karlson will oversee the health of all of these athletes, a job which will demand somewhat varied care, she said.
"Taking care of the triathletes will be a little different than the rowers, because their race takes a lot longer than the rowing races," she said.
Karlson said she will be paying special attention to rowers who have had less experience competing at the national team level. The Olympics will be the first major international regatta for several of these rowers, she said.
Karlson's road to Beijing began a decade ago. After falling short of the cut for the Olympic team in 1996, Karlson officially submitted her application to work as a physician to the United States Olympic Committee in 1998.
The selection process for the position is both long and complicated, she said.
"Most physicians selected practice orthopedic or family medicine. It's a ten-year waiting process, and then if they like you, you go on a two-week volunteer training program. After that, you first go to lesser competitions like the University Games or the Pan-American Games," she said. "Then, if they still like you, the U.S. Olympic Committee picks you to go to one Olympics. Unites States Rowing requested me for Beijing."
Karlson's own rowing career began at Williams College in 1981. It was at the University of Connecticut, where she trained by herself while studying medicine, however, that Karlson first achieved the results that would make her a world-class rower.
"I didn't discover I had a talent for rowing until I went to med school," she said.
Today, Karlson said her focus lies primarily on her career in medicine, and said she has not been actively involved in either local or Dartmouth College rowing, aside from treating a few Dartmouth rowers referred by the Athletic Department.
But, as she looks forward to her return to the sport, Karlson said she is hopeful about the team's chances for success.
"The U.S. Olympic Committee wants U.S. Rowing to bring home at least three medals. The men's and women's eight boats are particularly strong, and so hopefully we'll take home a few more than three," she said.
