Meet The 2026 UW Women's Rowing Team Newcomers

A crew of University of Washington freshman women row on Lake Union in Seattle, with the skyline and Space Needle as a backdrop

March 19, 2026 | Women's Rowing

The start of each new UW rowing season is marked by the annual Class Day Regatta, which will be held this Saturday, March 21, on Montlake Cut.

With each new spring, the Washington women's rowing team is bolstered by a group of newcomers. This year, that cohort is comprised of 37 women: three transfer students and 34 first-year students. Here's a look of those individuals:

The three transfer students are Jane Doyle (New York, N.Y.), Nienke Overgoor (Bunnik, Netherlands) and Ava Rothmeyer (Seattle/Franklin H.S.). Doyle comes to UW after three seasons at Holy Cross, where she was a three-time All-Patriot League honoree. Overgoor previously attended the University of Twente in the Netherlands. She also represented her country at the World Rowing Under 23 Championships and is the daughter of two former national team rowers. Rothmeyer attended Brown for the last two years, rowing in the four at 2024 NCAAs and in the second varsity eight in 2025, when she won a silver medal.

Nine of Washington's freshmen join the team from the greater Seattle area: Asa Desai (Seattle Prep), Makenna Garrett (Renton/Hazen), Ava Hedin (Woodinville/Inglemoor), Zoe Keenan (Seattle/University Prep), Hannah Kress (Bainbridge), Kamila Lisowski (Bothell/North Creek), Charlotte Park (Bellevue/Bush School), Finley Stockstad, Tacoma/Stadium), and Sophia Thompson (Seattle/Highline Virtual Academy).

Kress and Thompson both rowed for Seattle Scullers, while Keenan competed for Green Lake Crew. Desai, Hedin and Lisowski all rowed for their high schools. Park is the younger sister of former UW rower Victoria Park.

Five other athletes come from other parts of the state of Washington: Lucy Forest (Walla Walla), Camille Hutton (Manson), Lauren Miller (Wenatchee), Claire Rogge (Vancouver / Evergreen), and Kat Shelton (Bellingham/Sehome).

Forest, Hutton and Miller were all standouts in high school sports other than rowing, while Shelton competed for Whatcom Rowing Association. Rogge, a cross-country and track athlete in high school, is the daughter of UW rowing alumni Dan Rogge and Anne Christie, the four seat in Washington's NCAA champion varsity eight crews in 1997 and 1998.

Another eight UW freshmen come to Seattle from other parts of the Western U.S.: Morgan Bradley (Portland, Ore./Cleveland), Elena Guevara (Salt Lake City, Utah/West), Sienna Mody, (Ventura, Calif./El Camino), Layla Mohanna (Los Alamitos, Calif./Los Alamitos), Jayna Palmer (Truckee, Calif./Truckee), Sloane Roth (Manhattan Beach, Calif./Chadwick School), Sadie Schultz (San Francisco, Calif./Urban School of San Francisco), and Lykka Spiekerkoetter (Redwood City, Calif./Silicon Valley International).

Bradley coxed at Rose City Rowing Club, while Guevara rowed for Utah Crew. Mody was a coxswain at team captain for Casitas Rowing, while Mohanna rowed for Long Beach Junior Crew. Palmer, a skier and track athlete, is the caught of Torrey (Folk) Palmer, a Wisconsin alum who rowed in the U.S. women's eight at the 2000 Olympic Games and won two medals at World Championships. Roth was a coxswain for Marina Aquatic Center.

Three additional freshmen are from other parts of the United States: Reese Augustine, (Minneapolis, Minn./Southwest), Layla Fini (Westerville, Ohio/Westerville Central), and Abby Putnam (Arlington, Va./Yorktown). Augustine was a member of the Minneapolis United rowing team, while Fini rowed for Westerville Crew. Putnam competed for TBC Racing in Washington, D.C.

The class also features nine international athletes: two from Canada, four from the U.K., two from Australia and one from New Zealand.

Grace Sisett (Kelowna) and Willow Tzonev (Victoria) both join the team from British Columbia. Sisett attended Brentwood College School, a longtime rowing powerhouse at the youth level, and is the daughter of two former Oregon State rowers. Tzonev, who rowed for Victoria City, also represented her country at the 2024 World Rowing Under 19 Championships.

The four Huskies from the U.K. are Emily Downing (Marlow, England), Katie Gardner (Cowbridge, Wales), Anne Thevenon (Kingston upon Thames, England), and Amelia Westbrook (Lincoln, England).

Downing brings with her a long résumé of success, including winning a silver medal in the Great Britain women's eight at 2024 World Rowing Under 19 Championships, in the same crew as Westbrook, who also won silver in the G.B. women's four at 2025 Under 19s.

Gardner is also the owner of two World U-19 silver medals, in the double in 2025 and the quad in 2024. Thevenon competed for her school, Kingston Grammar School, at both Henley and Henley Women's Regatta.

The Huskies two new Aussies are Scarlett Shelton and Caitlin Woods, both from Melbourne. Both have extensive experience competing for their respective schools, and at the state and national level.

Finally, Issy Melville is the lone Kiwi in this year's freshman class, and she comes to Seattle with unusual insight, as she was a part of the New Zealand women's eight that raced against the Huskies at the 2025 Windermere Cup. Along with, Melville also rowed for Waikato Rowing Club and represented her nation at 2024 World Under 19s.

Fans will get a closer look at these 37 new Huskies this Saturday morning at the 125^th annual Class Day Regatta, which gets underway at 10:00 a.m. PT.

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