2025 SESSION

ENROLLED

HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 697

Commending Claire Collins.

Agreed to by the House of Delegates, February 18, 2025

Agreed to by the Senate, February 20, 2025

WHEREAS, McLean native Claire Collins represented the Commonwealth at the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad in Paris, France, competing for Team USA in the women's eight rowing event; and

WHEREAS, Claire Collins attended Deerfield Academy boarding school in Massachusetts, where she captained the swimming and volleyball teams and excelled at rowing; and

WHEREAS, Claire Collins earned silver medals at the 2012 Junior World Rowing Championships in the eight+ event and at the 2014 Junior World Rowing Championships in the coxless four event; she also won the US Rowing Youth National Championships in 2014 and 2015 in the women's four event; and

WHEREAS, Claire Collins won a silver medal in the women's eight at the 2017 World Rowing Under 23 Championships and a bronze in the women's eight at the 2018 World Rowing Under 23 Championships; and

WHEREAS, Claire Collins graduated from Princeton University as a three-time All-American and a four-time All-Ivy selection; in 2019, she earned the C. Otto von Kienbusch Award as the top female athlete at Princeton University and was a nominee for the National Collegiate Athletic Association Woman of the Year award; and

WHEREAS, Claire Collins made her Olympic Debut at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan, placing seventh overall in the women's coxless four event; and

WHEREAS, Claire Collins continued to compete at the international level, earning a bronze medal in the pair event at the 2022 World Rowing Championships and a silver medal in the pair event at the 2022 World Rowing Cup II; and

WHEREAS, in the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, France, Claire Collins competed in the women's eight event and qualified for the final, where the team finished fifth overall; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED by the House of Delegates, the Senate concurring, That the General Assembly hereby commend Claire Collins for representing the Commonwealth at the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad in 2024; and, be it

RESOLVED FURTHER, That the Clerk of the House of Delegates prepare a copy of this resolution for presentation to Claire Collins as an expression of the General Assembly's admiration for her outstanding athletic achievements and best wishes for the future.