2018 graduate McCallum graduate Kate Knifton made her Olympic debut today, representing the United States at the 2024 Summer Olympics, rowing in the Women’s Four.

While in high school, Knifton competed nationally on the US Rowing Junior National teams. In college rowing at the University of Texas, she was a two-time NCAA National Champion.

She initially got into rowing because her dad owns Texas Rowing Center. She is rowing for Team USA in the stroke seat, which will set the pace for the other three rowers.

Knifton’s mom, Kristin Koenig Brewer said that she has a lot of grit and determination when pursuing her goals.

“She was born that way,” Koenig Brewer said. “Ever since she was a small child, she has set goals for herself and worked tirelessly to achieve them.”

Knifton raced today in the heats. Team USA placed fourth in 6:49.66 behind heat winner Great Britain (6:42.57), finals qualifier New Zealand (6:45.44) and third-place China (6:49.12). China led early in the race, New Zealand led at the midway point, and Great Britain claimed the lead in the third 500 meters before rowing to victory by almost three seconds.

“It was exciting to get our first Olympic race,” Knifton said in a story posted on the US Rowing website. “Now, we’re really excited moving forward just to keep improving and see the potential of our boat.”

While the United States didn’t qualify for the finals, they will have a second chance on Tuesday to secure a spot in the finals on Thursday. In Tuesday’s repechage, the five teams that did not qualify for the finals today will race again. The U.S. will take on China, Ireland (6:51.75 in Heat 2), Denmark (6:59.70 in today’s Heat 1) and Australia (6:59.86 in Heat 2).

The top two finishers will qualify for finals. Only China had a faster time than the United States today, so Kate and her teammates have a good chance to qualify on Tuesday.

Knifton’s teammate, Kelsey Reelick of Brookfield, Conn., told US Rowing that she is optimistic that the team can find another level in its remaining races.

“We’ve tried a bunch of different things to see what feels best and this lineup has always felt very natural,” Reelick said. “It’s been really fun, and I do feel like we’re a still a new crew, so we’re learning every week, a small epiphany of some sort, but I think we have the things that it takes to put together a good race.”