From The Editor: Change for the Best

Change comes hard in our sport, and sometimes not at all.

For our “Best Of” awards, the change is significant for this year. Since Rowing News began naming the top coaches, crews, regattas, and athletes more than 20 years ago, the practice has become commonplace in rowing, leading to the awarding of everybody and anything of the year by multiple entities—including 10 “athlete of the year” recognitions from a single organization.

In the spirit of there being but one winner of a race—the boat that crosses the line first—we’re naming only a single crew and single coach for “Best Of” honors.

For the U.S. National Team, changes in leadership and coaches dating to 2019 finally produced a gold-medal-winning crew with the men’s four in Paris. For his work with that crew, as well as other reasons you can read about beginning on page 34 in the December issue, Casey Galvanek is the Rowing News 2024 Coach of the Year.

No changes have been made in the line-up of USRowing’s head coaches, despite the results of the Olympics, as I reported previously.

Change has come slowly for the Head of the Charles, which might be a big reason for the regatta’s continued success as America’s fall rowing festival and alumni reunion of the rowing establishment. It’s working: About 10,000 rowers raced 2,625 shells over a sunny three-day weekend in October that set a new record as the world’s largest rowing event.

Fast and responsive change has been a major reason the Head of the Hooch has grown almost as big as the Charles. Now in its third location since its founding in 1982, the Hooch features mostly junior and collegiate club crews that are flocking to the “Last of the Great Fall Regattas” and showcasing the future of our sport. Read about how it, as well as the Head of the Schuylkill and other events (including the venerable Henley Royal Regatta), have grown and improved since we’ve returned to travel and racing (page 25).

It’s never too late to make positive changes with rowing, as Barbara Hogan has, picking up our sport at age 61. Now 79, she’s rowed, sculled, and erged herself into better shape than when she was in her 30s. She’s one of four rowers photographed by Amy Wilton, who tells their inspiring stories with compelling images in a feature beginning on page 44 of the December issue.

We hope you’ll share your compelling rowing images (email photos@rowingnews.com) so we can include them in next month’s Photo Annual, which never fails to change our perspective of something in our great sport.

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