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Now in his 20th year at UW and 16th year as the head coach of the Washington men's rowing team, Michael Callahan has helped establish Husky Crew as the most successful, deep and consistent men's program in the country.
Since 2008, Callahan's first at the helm of his alma mater's rowing team, Washington has soared to unprecedented heights, scoring one unprecedented success after another.
In his 15 years as head coach, Washington has won the Intercollegiate Rowing Association varsity eight race – the national championship of men's collegiate rowing – seven times, including five in a row (2011-15). No team had ever won more than four straight, dating back to the first IRA Regatta in 1895.
In his 15 seasons, the Huskies have won the James Ten Eyck Memorial Trophy, given to the top overall team at IRAs, in 12 out of 14 attempts (there was no IRA Regatta in 2020). Washington's storied program had won the Ten Eyck just five times in the previous 54 seasons before Callahan took over.
In addition, in his 14 attempts, Washington has won the Pac-12 championship 11 times and has won 33 additional IRA titles in the second and third varsity eights, the freshman eight and the varsity four.
In the meantime, the Huskies have continued to develop elite athletes who have gone on to compete at the highest level. For instance, at the 2016 Olympic Games, four of the nine members of the U.S. men's eight were UW products, while three other Huskies represented Canada. At the 2020 Tokyo Games, eight UW men's team alumni represented their country. Each year, current and former UW rowing alumni represent their countries at Under-23 and Senior World Championships.
Washington won its most recent national championship in 2021. After the 2020 season had been canceled, the UW rebounded with an clean sweep at the IRAs, winning the first, second and third varsity eights, as well as the Ten Eyck.
The entirety of the 2020 season was lost to the global pandemic, but that didn't prevent UW oarsmen from their continued success in the classroom. Twenty members of the men's team made the Dean's List in the winter, 2020, academic quarter, while 25 earned a spot in the spring.
In 2019, Washington brought several more trophies home to Conibear Shellhouse as the Huskies swept all five races to win the Pac-12 Championship. At IRAs, the Huskies won the national championship in the third varsity eight and the varsity four, and also took the Ten Eyck. The 2019 Husky team also won the Schoch Cup with a win in the annual Cal Dual and beat Germany to earn another Windermere Cup. Callahan was named Pac-12 Coach of the Year for the 10th time.
For the second summer in a row in 2019, Callahan served as head coach of the U.S. Under-23 men's team.
In 2018, the Huskies won the Pac-12 Championships and another Ten Eyck at the IRA championship regatta, winning both the second and third varsity eight championships and finishing second in the varsity eight (the varsity four final was canceled due to weather).
After the collegiate season, Callahan took charge of the United States Under-23 men's team. In a move that showed the commitment of USRowing to its under-23 team, Callahan took several crews to the World Cup event in Lucerne, Switzerland, where the American eight finished fourth against senior-level competition. That under-23 U.S. eight then went on to win the gold medal at the 2018 Under-23 World Championships in Poland. The eight included six Washington oarsmen.
Callahan was also chosen to oversee the United States Under-23 Men's National Team in 2019.
In the meantime, the UW sent an eight to the Royal Henley Regatta, where Washington won the Temple Challenge Cup in record time.
In 2017, after winning the Pac-12 Championship, the Huskies won three of their four events at IRAs, taking the titles in the second and third varsity eights and the varsity four, while falling just 69 one-thousandths of a second shy of taking the varsity eight crown.
In June 2015, Washington men’s crew made history by winning their fifth straight and 18th overall IRA National Championship and ninth straight Ten Eyck trophy (team points title), an achievement unseen in collegiate rowing.
Callahan led the Huskies to five straight straight National Championships, for a total of six National Championships in his eight seasons. At the 2012, 2013 and 2015 Intercollegiate Rowing Association (IRA) Regattas, Washington achieved perfect sweeps by all five Husky boats—a feat unmatched by any crew in the history of the regatta.
The high level of achievement on the water has continued to exemplify the standard at Washington’s Conibear Shellhouse. Thirteen rowers who have at one time competed under Callahan have become Olympians: four from Canada and nine from the U.S., winning a total of six Olympic medals. Callahan’s athletes have also become ubiquitous at the U-23 level. In 2014 alone, 14 of Callahan’s oarsmen represented their various countries at the U-23 World Championships. In 2015, seven current UW rowers and alumni competed at the Senior World Championships.
Callahan credits his oarsmen’s results to his commitment to developing athletes, demonstrated by his extensive contributions to the U.S. National Team and willingness to take his Washington teams abroad to compete beyond the traditional season.
He led a United States Under-23 men’s boat in 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008 (gold), and coached rowers from his Northwest Development camp to success in the 4+ at the 2011, 2012 (silver), and 2014 U-23 Championships.
At the senior level, Callahan coached the U.S. pair of Charlie Cole and Glenn Ochal to the A Final at the 2014 Senior World Championships in Amsterdam (marking the United States’ first appearance in the 2-A Final since 2009.)
During Callahan’s tenure, Washington has also sent four boats to the prestigious Henley Royal Regatta in England. At Henley, the Huskies twice won the Temple Challenge Cup (2010, 2012) and in 2013 the Varsity 8+ earned world-wide recognition by making it to the final of the Grand Challenge Cup, where the crew would have set a course record had they not been narrowly beaten by World Champion Great Britain crew.
Off the water, Callahan, who graduated from the UW in 1996, has pushed his oarsmen to excel in the classroom as well. In spring of 2014 the Husky men’s crew had the highest team grade point average (GPA) of the UW’s large sports teams. The Pac-12 and IRA have continued to recognize Washington athletes on their all-academic lists, and 18 members of Washington’s 2014 National Championship crew were on the University’s Dean’s List.
Callahan places importance on developing coaching talent. Lucas McGee, current coach of the U.S. Men’s National Team eight, served as Callahan’s freshman coach for five years at Washington before joining the U.S. National Team coaching staff. Bryan Volpenhein current USA Men’s 4- coach was the intern coach at Washington in 2005 while Callahan was freshmen coach. Carlos Dinares now with RP3 was the intern coach in 2006. Others have interned and gone on to coaching positions at Cal, Cornell and Dartmouth. Those relationships have continued to breed success with Callahan recently reuniting McGee and Volpenhein them to coach the U.S. National team during the summers. At the 2014 Senior World Championships the U.S. Men’s National Team had all three sweep boats in the A final for the first time in recent memory.
Callahan’s impact has been widely recognized. In 2013, USRowing named Callahan its “Man of Year” and the Pac-10/12 has continued to recognize Callahan's accomplishments, naming him its “Coach of the Year” in six of the eight seasons he's led the Washington program, including in 2015.
Before coaching, Callahan built an impressive resume as a rower himself. He strives to ensure his experiences on collegiate, national, and Olympic teams can help guide his current athletes.
While at Washington, Callahan was the captain and commodore of the 1996 team and earned a degree in history. Callahan won four Pac-10 Championships and the Ky-Ebright trophy in the Men's Varsity Eight three times. In 1995 and 1996 his crews won a bronze and silver medal in the Men's Varsity Eight at IRA National Championships.
Before coming to Washington, Callahan won a gold medal at the 1992 World Rowing Championships in the Junior Men's Eight in Montreal. After graduation, Callahan joined the U.S. Men's National Team, winning a bronze medal in the 1995 Under-23 Nations Cup Regatta, followed by a gold medal at the 1996 Under-23 Nations Cup Regatta. He stroked three U.S. National Team boats at the World Championships between 1997 and 2002. Callahan was a medalist at the 1999 Pan-American Games and 2000 World Rowing Cup, and a member of the 2004 U.S. Olympic Rowing Team.
While growing up, Callahan lived with his family in six states, including Washington, while his father was stationed at Bangor as a U.S. Navy Submarine Captain.
Callahan now lives in Seattle’s Portage Bay neighborhood with his wife Joanna and their daughters, Ellison and Maja. Joanna Hess Callahan is a Washington native who rowed at Yale. Her father, Mike Hess, is a two-time UW Rowing captain and member of the UW Hall of Fame. Her mother, Andy, was a co-captain of the UW track team. Being a Husky is all in the family.
