Sept. 6, 2011

LOS ANGELES, Calif. - Former Lion Warren Anderson helped the United States Men's Quad qualify for the 2012 London Olympics this past weekend at the 2011 World Rowing Championships in Bled, Slovenia.

Anderson and his crew placed eighth in the world at the Championships in what was an extremely close B Final. All six boats in the race finished within 2.44 seconds of each other, including Anderson and the US at 5:49.06.

"It was a tough year [training in Chula Vista]," Anderson said when asked about training and preparation for the race. "Just to qualify for the Olympics in the Quad was a very close and nerve-racking experience. Less than two and a half seconds separated first place from sixth place, with only the top-five finishers headed to London for the Games. Now that we've qualified, the work is far from done. We have less than 11 months now until the Games, and have to get a strategy going soon on how to make our efforts most effective."

Anderson, who was named an alternate for the 2008 United States Olympic Rowing team, starred for the Lions from 2003-06. Prior to this year, he previously rowed for the US National Team at the 2007 Pan American Games, where he brought home a bronze medal as a member of the quadruple sculls boat. While at LMU, Anderson won the collegiate title at the 2006 C.R.A.S.H.-B. Sprints World Indoor Rowing Championships in Boston, Mass.