Westlake Rower Margot Shumway Wins Gold in Pan American Games

is bringing home a gold medal to Westlake after winning the women's single sculls at the 2011 Pan American Games on Tuesday.

"We are over the moon for her and she is so happy," wrote Shumway's mother, Julia, in an email.

The 32-year-old Beijing Olympian clocked in at 7 minutes, 53.05 seconds on Lake Zapotlan in Mexico, beating out Argentina's Gabriela Best and Canada's Isolda Penney who took second and third place respectively, reports Reuters.

The 2,000 meter course really puts a rower’s speed, endurance and strength to the test, said Shumway in an earlier interview.

said the heat was a learning experience for her, and she made some adjustments in her repechage. After coming in third in her heat, she competed in the repechage, a sort of second chance race to make the finals, and won a spot in Tuesday's final.

"The weather has been absolutely beautiful here," she wrote from Lake Zapotlan. "The interesting part about this town is that the conditions can change so rapidly. The first few days we had rain and completely overcast skies and now that seems like a distant memory with such beautiful weather for the past 48 hours."

The 2011 Pan American is held every four years in the year preceding the Olympics and serves as a precursor to the summer games. Shumway is hoping that her performance will earn her a spot in the 2012 Summer Olympics in London.