Christine Ernst

Christine Ernst is an American former rower. She was in 1986 World Rowing Championships and won gold in the women's lightweight doubles event. She led protest a 1976 at Yale University about the inadequate facilities provided to the women's crew—the first such challenge under Title IX.

Early life Ernst was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Her family moved to Scituate, Massachusetts when she was a young child. She trained in gymnastics where she challenged, and beat, the boys in her high school in arm wrestling matches in order to get use of the equipment.

She attended Yale University, receiving an undergraduate degree in 1976.

Rowing Ernst began rowing her sophomore year in college, and by her senior year she was captain of the women's crew (rowing team).

Ernst led a protest regarding the discrepancy in facilities for the women's crew compared to the men's team. This protest was noted by newspapers around the world, including The New York Times.

After graduating from college, she was an assistant rowing coach at Yale and shifted her focus to sculling, rowing with two oars. She also participated as an alternate in the 1984 Summer Olympics. In 1988 Ernst refused to participate in the 1988 Summer Olympics because of her opposition to the political situation regarding South Korea.

Subsequent years In 1980, Ernst was the first woman to become a unionized plumber in New Haven; as of 1982 she was one of four female plumbers in southern Connecticut. As of 2012 she owns a plumbing company, Pipelines, in Roslindale, Massachusetts.