Letter From Our CEO - April 2025

Dear USRowing Members, 

As we head into the heart of spring racing season, I wanted to take a moment to share a few updates and highlights from across our rowing community. 

First, congratulations to this year’s annual USRowing Board-Selected Award winners, and in particular to Holly Metcalf, recipient of our Medal of Honor. Holly’s contributions to rowing span decades — from her Olympic achievements to her work building inclusive and empowering programs for women and girls. It’s hard to overstate the impact she’s had on so many in our sport.  

On the competitive side, our U.S. High Performance athletes have been active both at home and internationally — with strong showings at the Lenny Peters Cup in North Carolina and at The Boat Race in the UK earlier this month.  

We’re so pleased to welcome Fiona Bourke to our high performance staff as our new Sculling Coach. Fiona is an Olympian and World Champion for New Zealand, and she brings valuable experience and perspective to our team as we continue building toward LA 2028.   

This past weekend, I was at the Knecht Cup, where the weather wasn’t exactly cooperative, but the racing more than made up for it. It was great to see such a wide range of programs — from club teams to Division I — competing. Events like Knecht are important reminders of how diverse and interconnected our rowing community really is.  

Finally, I want to recognize two major gifts made to USRowing and announced at the end of last month— both of which will have long-term impact. The McLane family’s support will directly strengthen our high performance efforts, and the Hudson family’s gift will help establish an endowment to support our United We Row program and The Youth Power 20 Fund, our initiative to grow and sustain emerging clubs across the country. We are deeply grateful for this support and for the confidence it reflects in our shared mission.  

Thank you for all that you do to support your teams, athletes, coaches, and the broader rowing community. 

All best,  

Amanda