Letter from the CEO – March 2026

Dear USRowing Members, 

I sat down to write this month’s letter with a long list of spring updates—the start of racing season, the energy building toward summer championships, and the steady drumbeat of momentum we’re feeling across our community. And all of that is still true. But I also want to share a more personal update with you directly: after five years serving as CEO of USRowing, I have made the difficult decision to step down to pursue other professional opportunities. This change will be effective April 10th, 2026. The Board has begun a search process, and we will share more about the transition plan in the weeks ahead. The full announcement and more information can be found here. 

Before anything else, I want to say thank you. Thank you for your support, your trust, and for allowing me the privilege and honor of stewarding this sport—our sport—for the last five years. I fell in love with this amazing sport at the age of 17 when I stepped into a boat for the first time on the Connecticut River with my novice teammates. I have loved it as an athlete, as a fan, as a person who still believes there’s nothing quite like the feeling of shared work in a boat, and as a leader who has had the chance to watch this community show up for one another again and again. 

If I had to summarize what I’ve learned in this role, it would be this: USRowing is not a national championship event, a podium finish, or a logo on shirt. USRowing is you. It’s the people loading trailers in the dark. It’s referees standing in the rain. It’s coaches teaching the catch to a nervous novice and the thousandth technical cue to a seasoned athlete who still wants to get better. It’s rowing alumni who remember what the sport gave them and decide to give back. It’s parents clapping from the shoreline for their high school rowers. It’s masters rowers proving that effort and joy don’t have an expiration date. It’s Paralympic and Olympic athletes chasing excellence in a way that makes all of us proud. The greatest moments of my entire career have been watching our U.S. athletes on Olympic, Paralympic, and World Championship podiums, and the American flag being carried by one of our own rowers at the Olympic closing ceremony in Paris.  

When I think about the last five years, I feel proud of what we’ve accomplished together—because it truly has been a collective effort. We’ve seen membership fully recover and then grow beyond where it was pre-COVID. We’ve expanded opportunities to race, learn, and belong. We’ve strengthened our ability to invest in the national team and in the grassroots programs that keep the sport healthy and vibrant. We’ve launched the USRowing Foundation and exponentially grown our fundraising capacity, including transformational gifts and endowments that will impact athletes and clubs for years to come. And we’ve continued to advance the important work of widening access—through United We Row grants and scholarships, through new initiatives designed to welcome people in, and through the steady work of building a sport that reflects the best of who we are and who we want to be. 

And of course, the results on the water have mattered too. I’ve been grateful to witness the commitment of our athletes and coaches as they’ve brought home medals, qualified boats for the Olympic and Paralympic Games, and represented the United States with grit and pride. It is one of the great privileges of this job to support people who are willing to do the hard, often unseen work—day after day—because they believe in what’s possible. 

Rowing is a reminder that progress is earned. That trust is built. That shared effort can create something stronger than any single person could produce alone. 

That is why I have genuine confidence in the future of USRowing. We have a talented staff, a Board that invests significant time into our sport, dedicated and generous Foundation Trustees, and—most importantly—an extraordinary membership base that cares deeply about this sport and knows how to build. Together. There is so much ahead of us: a full racing season, the continued growth of our clubs and programs, and the runway toward LA28—a catalyst not just for podium results, but for participation, visibility, and pride in rowing across the United States. 

In the weeks and months to come, I will do everything I can to ensure a thoughtful transition. And while I may be leaving this position, I am not leaving rowing. I will always be in this community, cheering from the shore, celebrating your wins, and believing wholeheartedly in what rowing can do for people in our incredible community. 

Thank you, again, for the trust you’ve placed in me and the privilege in running this organization. Thank you for the thousands of ways you support rowing every day, whether anyone sees it or not. I have been deeply grateful to serve, and I am proud of what we’ve built together. 

With gratitude, 

Amanda Kraus 
Chief Executive Officer 
USRowing