One of the odds-on favourites to capture a gold medal, her shell was involved in a collision with the boat of German coxless pair team Colin von Ettinghausen and Peter Hoeltzenbein on May 15, 1992.

"[2]), five operations and a total stay in the hospital of approximately three weeks, Laumann was back on the water training by late June.

After a one-year absence to allow the injury to heal further, Laumann resumed competing in 1994, and she won a silver at the 1995 World Championships.

Her final competitive race was at the 1996 Summer Olympics, where Silken won a silver medal in single sculls.

Laumann was inducted into the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame in 1998 and was awarded the Thomas Keller Medal in 1999 for her outstanding international rowing career.