The acclaimed Anita
At her home in Los Angeles, USA, Anita L. De Frantz is ready to do an interview with World
Rowing. It is 6am. This is the time De Frantz has available. She admits, with a laugh, that this
early start to the day is a habit left over from years of rowing.
Despite her past as an Olympic medallist and
continued involvement in rowing, De Frantz does
not get to row much now. It is difficult to fit it into
her lifestyle which demands regular trips around
the United States and the world as she deals with
one of her extensive list of roles.
The list is not just extensive, it is impressive and
her involvement is often marked as a first - a first
as a woman or as an African American. It includes a
large number of roles on the International Olympic
Committee. There are also US Olympic Committee
roles, the Women’s Sports Foundation, a member
of the Académie des Sports in France and, of
course, as the vice-president of the International
Rowing Federation, FISA (since 1993).
Women of Achievement Award. De Frantz has
been named one of the “100 Most Powerful
People in Sports” by The Sporting News for
nine consecutive years, “The 20 Most Powerful
Women in Sport” by SportsPro Magazine, “The
100 Most Influential Sports Educators in America”
by the Institute for International Sport, “NCAA’s
100 Most Influential Student-Athletes”, and one
of “The 100 Most Powerful Women in The World,
by The Australian Magazine.
American. Growing up, De Frantz says there were
no sporting opportunities for girls. “I had three
brothers and they did sports so I didn’t know why
I couldn’t take part,” says De Frantz.
Anita L. De Frantz
De Frantz has been awarded a number of
honorary doctorates from American universities,
the Abby J. Leibman Pursuit of Justice Award,
the International Women’s Forum Hall of Fame
and the Minerva Award, “Fair Play Gaio Cilnio
Mecenate.” The list goes on.
On top of this, awards coming from around the
globe have literally showered on De Frantz and it
would be fair to say if there was an award for the
most awarded woman, De Frantz would probably
get it. To sample just a few, there is the Olympic
Order in bronze, Olympic Torch Award, Silver
Achievement Award for Public Service, Black
So how did one individual get to this position in
life?
Growing up with a mother who blazed a trail by
earning a doctorate and eventually becoming a
professor and a father who ran an organisation
called Community Action Against Poverty,
De Frantz was influenced by their struggles and
their civil rights activities.
De Frantz was born in Philadelphia (1952) into a
world where, not only did women and competitive
sport not mix, but even less so as an African
These struggles were also part of De Frantz’s
rich heritage. Her great, great, great grandfather
was a plantation owner who had a son to a female
servant. This son, Alonso, was an Exoduster >
Issue 17 – August 2011
