In the old days, about the only rowing folks did around Maine was in dories, setting trawls. Rowing wasn't a competitive sport, it was a skill you used to ply the fishing grounds where you made your living. You didn't row on smooth water, either -- the roaring, roiling ocean was your home, usually at night, when you set off from the schooner that brought you offshore, armed with tubs of trawl line.

Rowing in the old days was tough -- a dirty, rugged, dangerous kind of tough that could kill you.

For Maine's Olympic rowers -- Elle Logan from Boothbay, Anna Goodale of Camden and Portland's Wyatt Allen -- rowing is still tough, but in a very different way. The three rowers have spent years in ferocious focus on getting to the Olympics, and along the way brought home a passel of trophies that would, in themselves, provide pride enough for a lifetime.

Allen, who was U.S. Rowing Male Athlete of the Year in 2007, has already won the gold in the men's eight in the 2004 Olympics. On Sunday, he and his teammates won a bronze in the 2,000-meter race, edged out for the silver in an almost immeasurably tight race by Great Britain.

But Sunday evening, the women rowers went even further and brought home the gold. Goodale rowed third seat and Logan rowed fourth in the women's eight crew, and they joined their fellow athletes in winning the first U.S. gold medal in the women's 2,000-meter event since 1984, almost a quarter-century ago. Powering along in their shell named "The Hunter," the women dominated the race from the start, leading at every checkpoint along the course.

"I would say from the first stroke we just had the utmost confidence in each other," Goodale said after the race. "We felt like we could win."

The three rowers' achievement in this summer's Olympic Games is remarkable, especially given that they don't come from a state that has a long tradition in the refined sport of competitive rowing. No fancy prep schools with major rowing programs, no big, powerhouse rowing programs at the state's colleges and universities -- instead, there are rowing clubs up and down the coast as well as activities and occasional races for those former college rowers who want to scull into the sunset vigorously and with style.

And while Maine's rowers may have been among the winning Olympians this summer, the state was also well-represented by steeplechase competitor Anna Willard, who came in 10th among the 14 runners who finished the 3,000-meter race. Ian Crocker didn't win a medal this time around, but came in fourth in the 100-meter butterfly and still holds the world record in the race, which he set in 2005. Farmington native Kevin Eastler walked with constant pain through his 20-kilometer race walk competition, finishing only 43rd. "I was just glad to finish this race," he said.

So far, Mainers have a lot to be happy about in this summer's Olympics. We've got big winners, with bronze and gold medals. We've got a swimmer edged out of third place -- just. We've got a young steeplechase runner with purple-streaked platinum blond hair who just won't quit -- so her loss this time around may still portend great things to come in other competitions, including future Olympics. We've got a two-time Olympic race walker raised in the hills and valleys of western Maine who has snared four national 20-kilometer titles, won the 20K and 50K titles in 2007 and also can claim the national 30K record, too.

And for a small state with a small population, that feels awfully good. Thanks to Willard, Crocker, Eastler, Goodale and Logan -- you've made your fellow Mainers awfully proud.