Megan Kalmoe and her rowing teammate Ellen Tomek had a secret — one they didn't want to share with their fans.

"I will finally put out there that no United States open women's double has ever won an Olympic medal," Kalmoe said before she and Tomek raced in the finals at the Olympics in Beijing on Saturday.

"That, and the highest a United States double has ever placed at a World Championship event is third," she said.

The pair didn't surpass that record, but they did take fifth place and Kalmoe wasn't displeased with their effort.

Kalmoe and Tomek issued a statement saying, "We're really proud of how we did."

Before they competed, Tomek did some research on how the double skulls women finished at the Olympics in the past.

"Thanks to Ellen's pre-Beijing research, we have kept this trivia mostly to ourselves," said Kalmoe.

She said coming into the final it was, "Difficult to ignore that we have a very unique opportunity before us, and you can bet that we are going to do all that we can to seize it."

But from the start it was obvious Kalmoe and Tomek had an up-hill battle against some very tough competition.

New Zealand finished at 7:07.33, just 0.01 ahead of Germany at 7:07.33. And to make it even more exciting, Great Britain was a close third at 7:07.55.

The United States pair came in fifth at 7:27.53, just behind China and ahead of the Czech Republic.

Kalmoe added, "From Munich to Lucerne to Poland, all six of us have gone back and forth with good performances and bad."

She'd predicted, "Our final is going to be a really great race all around for all three medal positions. "I certainly didn't count us out, and I certainly didn't underestimate the abilities of the other women in my event, all of whom have had great showings this season and all of whom seem to have a trick or two up their sleeves," Kalmoe said.

Kalmoe has a date scheduled in St. Croix Falls in September. The city of St. Croix Falls plans to honor Kalmoe during the event.

She indicated she will continue training and that another shot at the Olympics is not out of the question, but she had not made a final decision at this time.

Women's Double Sculls Final A

1. New Zealand, 7:07.32

2. Germany 7:07.33

3. Great Britain 7:07.55

4. China 7:15.85

5. United States 7:27.53

6. Czech Republic 7:25.09

(Note: Some information from Megan Kalmoe's blog from China).