Every great athlete will tell you a story about how they first started out in their respective sport. From humble beginnings to Olympic start lines, theirs is often a tale of hard work, commitment and tenacity (mixed with no lack of talent). Rowing breeds hard characters whose journey to the top is often inspired by one of our sport’s most attractive propositions. In the UK, that might be Henley Royal Regatta. In New Zealand, that could be the Maadi Cup. In Europe, the Holland Beker or a classic city race in Lucerne, Berlin, Paris, or any one of several historic cities could create a legacy that inspires the next generation. In the US, though, it is so often the San Diego Crew Classic.
Kate Knifton and Gus Rodriguez are both senior USRowing athletes, having competed at the 2025 World Rowing Championship. Kate won gold as part of the women’s coxless four whilst Gus took bronze in the men’s eight. Both competed at the San Diego Crew Classic in their earlier years and found the event to be a launchpad for greater success. “My Dad actually is a rower himself,” said Kate. He began rowing at the University of Texas, where he was introduced to the sport in college, and then attempted to make the 1992 Olympic team. He’s now the owner of the Texas Rowing Centre, so rowing runs in the family.“
Kate is another product of the fearsome Texas programme, having rowed there from 2019 through to 2023. She won the NCAA National Championship in 2022 and has since competed at the 2024 Olympic Games, as well as the 2025 World Rowing Championships in Shanghai. So, where does the San Diego Crew Classic rank? “It makes me happy to think about it because I associate it with great weather,” she explained. “It’s warm, it’s sunny, it’s beautiful, it’s kind of the big spring regatta, especially in high school. It was the one we looked forward to all year long. I think it’s right up there with the Charles in terms of significant national events where you see people from all over. The cool thing about it was that when we went with our high school, we would also see the college teams. So that was actually the first time I had really seen the University of Texas up close competing, and seeing them at the Crew Classic was one of the things that made me really want to be part of the programme.”
The regatta is organised so that junior crews are setting up a tent right next to the top collegiate and national athletes, watching them warm up and get ready for their race. “I think it’s really unique in that it kind of has all different levels competing. I definitely ranked it as one of the top, if not the top, experiences, especially for my high school racing.”
For Gus, rowing was also part of the family legacy – his Dad won silver at the 1988 Olympic Games whilst his Mum was a talented lightweight athlete. The San Diego Crew Classic was a race he’d always had his heart set on, and after joining Brown University, 2020 was the year that the squad agreed that they’d go for it.
“Then COVID hit,” he laughed. “So that ended up getting cancelled, unfortunately. So I never actually raced at the Crew Classic until I took a fifth year at the University of California, Berkeley. We actually raced Brookes that year (2023) and beat them.”
The main barrier to entry in racing across the US is the vast scale of the country. Crews have to travel for days to make races from one coast to another, but Gus believes that the Crew Classic is an example of accessible racing. “I could be wrong on this, but it seems like it’s a lot easier to get a bunch of guys or girls together and just get a line-up to go together and have some fun with it (at the Crew Classic),” he said. “It can be perceived as both low and high stakes, but it arrives early in the race season. Everyone’s champing at the bit to get out on the water because they just got through the winter.”
That point around accessibility extends beyond getting a crew together. It’s about how people feel when they arrive, when they soak up the atmosphere and take to the water. Accessibility refers to something that anyone, regardless of their background, can enjoy. “I think it’s super important, and not only for the high schoolers but for the college athletes and national team athletes,” commented Kate. “It’s super cool for the whole sport of rallying to be more integrated and to support each other. All of us have been, or most of us have been, high schoolers at one point, so it’s really great to get to cheer on the next generation. I think being a high schooler at the Crew Classic and seeing the older girls definitely inspires you, showing you what’s possible in the sport and motivating you to keep going at higher levels, while also getting to meet those people face-to-face.”
For both athletes, the plan is full steam ahead to a home Olympic Games. “I’m really excited about the 2026 World Rowing Championships in Amsterdam,” said Gus. “I think the U.S. team is going to be really strong there. Just looking at the guys who we have in California, there’s a lot of talent that took the year off, and they’re training again, plus the amount of depth we have in Princeton, and then I know there’s an immense amount of talent around the US that is going to show up for camps.”
For Kate, the prospect of medalling at an Olympics – especially on home turf – is tantalising. “After Paris, it felt like, ‘okay, I went to an Olympics’, which was always a big goal of mine, but I think the next goal would be to medal at an Olympic Games,” she explained. “Having done on, I can really tangibly see what that would look like, and I can compare what I did to get the result that we had in 2024 to what I think it’ll take to level that up to the next tier.”
For Kate, her brand has taken off since she won gold in Shanghai. What the San Diego Crew Classic does so well is to provide a platform for athletes who are the guiding principle for the next generation: “Anytime there’s high-level athletes and an event, it’s great to have a way for people to meet them, whether it’s autograph signing, photos, little meet and greets, things that don’t take a lot of effort, but really go a long way. I know that almost every athlete on the national team would be extremely excited to do something like that and would be willing to give their time to meet people and help broaden the reach of the national team in the sport.”
Rowing needs figureheads. Events like the San Diego Crew Classic provide opportunities for individuals to emerge, both on and off the water.
