Class of 2018 McCallum alum Kate Knifton, now rowing for the U.S. National Team, was recently voted by her teammates as the 2025 US Female Rowing Athlete of the Year. The award recognizes extraordinary rowers for their leadership, achievements, and positive contributions to the team environment. 

“I definitely feel very humbled and excited to have been awarded by my teammates,” Knifton said. “I think anytime that your teammates are choosing an award, it means even more because those are the people that see you every day.”

Growing up, Knifton didn’t always want to be a rower, preferring to swim and dance. When she was 15, her dad got her a job at his club, the Texas Rowing Center. After day one she said, “Dad, I think I’m going to start rowing.” 

Matt Knifton, her father, remembers watching her first regatta her novice year. 

“She was racing a single– a one person boat,” Matt Knifton said. “Her result was so surprising. I thought, ‘Wow this could be something big.’”

Throughout high school, Knifton was coached by Falesha Thrash at the Texas Rowing Center. From the beginning Thrash noted her bubbliness, discipline, and natural athleticism. If Knifton wanted to pursue rowing, she could go as far as she wanted.

“I knew that she was going to be a dedicated rower as long as she ended up liking the sport,” Thrash said.  

And Knifton did. After graduating from McCallum, she attended the University of Texas at Austin, where she rowed for the varsity women’s team and suddenly couldn’t imagine a future without rowing. It was the team that got her interested, and her personal drive that kept her going.

“I would say just the desire to reach my full potential [motivates me] and knowing that your potential is pretty limitless if you’re willing to put the work in,” Knifton said. 

At the University of Texas, Knifton’s team won National Championships in 2021 and 2022. 

Knifton was a junior in 2021, just after the COVID-19 pandemic, and after a disappointing and unusual previous year, Knifton was incredibly proud of the team’s resilience. Additionally, it was the first National Championship the University of Texas women’s rowing team had ever won. 

“It was the culmination of so many generations of women putting the program on the map and getting it started in the first place,” Knifton said. 

In 2022, Knifton competed in the World Rowing Under-23 Championships, medaling gold in the women’s coxless four. Additionally, Knifton was named Big 12 Rower of the Year in 2023, as well as All American 2021-2023. 

2023 seemed like it may have been the end of Knifton’s rowing career. She herniated the discs in her back and had to undergo spinal surgery. The doctor told her to give up rowing, but she didn’t.

“I tried to just focus day-by-day and not zoom out too much into the future,” Knifton said. “Just focus on what I can do that day to get better and trying to be grateful for the things that I did have and the people around me helping me get through it.”

When she came back, she joined the senior national team. Going from a nine-month period of static to racing against the best rowers in the country a few short months later was a rocky transition, but Knifton was grateful for the teammates and coaches who supported her. In spite of the physical adversity and beating even her own doubts, she placed fifth in the women’s coxless four at the 2024 Olympics.

“She’s a very determined individual and very hardworking, and she deserves all the successes she’s gotten,” Matt said. 

Knifton comes from a long line of athletes. Her grandfather tried to make the Olympic teams of 1972, 1976, 1980, and 1984 for race walking and her father attempted to make the 1992 Olympic team for rowing. Both were unsuccessful, but Matt feels success in Knifton’s accomplishments. 

“Trying to make the Olympic team was a long time dream,” he said. “So for Kate to come along and make the Olympic team was really special.”

Knifton’s grandfather’s story has shown her the importance of dedication.

“He definitely showed me that if you really want something, you have to keep pursuing it even if you don’t end up getting it,” Knifton said. “You have to give it everything you have.”

Although Knifton’s team did not medal in the 2024 Paris Olympics, she saw it as a learning opportunity and something to be proud of nonetheless. 

“I think a lot of people were disappointed just to not have medaled, but at the same time, that was my first Olympics, that was a lot of people’s first Olympics– it was definitely an accomplishment just to be there,” Knifton said. 

She believes that the 2024 Olympics set the team up for their successes in 2025, including placing first at the National Championships in the women’s coxless four.

“I definitely think there was a lot of rebuilding this year coming out of the Paris Olympics,” she said. “I had to reframe how this year was going to go, and rather than just making my goal be to make the team, I had to make my goal make an impact on the team and perform really well at the highest level.”

Knifton also credits her award to her teammates. 

“The girls on my boat were just amazing to work with and incredible rowers and without them, it would not have been possible because our result was such a team effort,” she said. 

Thrash finds Knifton’s modesty amidst her accomplishments to be impressive.

“Her ability to remain modest [stands out to me],” Thrash said. “A lot of times an athlete of her caliber could easily be all of themselves but she wasn’t about herself. She was about the team. She cares about this boat as a whole.”

Thrash never had any doubts in Knifton’s ability due to her strong work ethic and coachability. Watching Knifton’s success, she said she feels an immense sense of pride and satisfaction. 

“It makes all of everything that you sacrifice as a coach worth it,” Thrash said. “[I feel] a huge sense of pride having the opportunity to have worked with her, but all of her successes are hers.”

Knifton hopes to continue making the National Championships each summer. Her goal is to have a podium finish in Amsterdam next year, and she’s looking ahead to the Olympics in Los Angeles. The past two Olympic cycles, no medals have been won in women’s rowing, and she hopes to break that streak.

“It would mean a lot to prove to ourselves and everyone else that U.S. rowing on the women’s side is on track and a really great program that everyone will have to compete with,” she said.