After a long and decorated tenure on the U.S. Women's National Team, four-time Olympian Megan Kalmoe, OLY joins the UC San Diego women's rowing staff for the 2026-27 season. Kalmoe brings a wealth of athletic experience to the Triton program, having herself used Mission Bay as a training base for a portion of her athletic career as well as coaching with the University of San Diego for the 2025 and 2026 seasons.
Kalmoe started her rowing career as a walk-on at the University of Washington, where she went on to become an All-American and captain for the Huskies in the 2005-06 season. She made her first U.S. team in 2005, capturing a gold medal in the BW4- at the inaugural U23 World Championships in Amsterdam. Following graduation, Kalmoe made the move to Princeton, New Jersey to train with the U.S. National Team, and began the longest tenure at the US Rowing Training Center in team history, during which time she rowed on twelve senior national teams.
Kalmoe made her first senior team in 2008 in the W2X finishing fifth at the Beijing Olympic Games. She went on to compete in the W2X in 2009, and then moved to the W4X for the next four years, winning a silver medal at the 2011 World Championships in Bled, Slovenia and an Olympic Bronze Medal at the 2012 Olympic Games in London--the first ever Olympic medal for the United States in that event. In 2014, Kalmoe made her international sweep debut in the W2- winning a silver medal in Amsterdam and setting an American record. She returned to the W4X in 2015 and won World Championship gold in Aiguebelette, France--another first for the U.S. in that boat class. For her efforts and versatility in the 2014 and 2015 seasons, Kalmoe was awarded the U.S. Rowing Athlete of the Year award in back-to-back seasons as voted by her teammates and coaches, along with the U.S. Rowing Woman of the Year Award in 2015.
Kalmoe returned to the W4X in 2016 and finished 5th at the Rio Olympic Games. Kalmoe finished her international career rowing in the W2- for the duration of the Tokyo Olympic quadrennium, finishing with a World Silver medal in 2017 in Sarasota, Florida, and finishing 4th in 2019 in Linz, Austria. She placed 10th overall in the W2- at the Tokyo Olympic Games in 2021. Wrapping up her career in Tokyo, Kalmoe became the first American rower (male or female) to compete in four Olympic Games.
Since retiring from elite sport, Kalmoe spent two years working with the San Diego Crew Classic -- a beloved local rowing regatta held on Mission Bay that is a cornerstone event of the Triton spring racing season. She also travels the country providing professional rowing commentary for premier collegiate rowing events including the Sarasota 2k, the Jefferson Dad Vail, Longhorn Invite, Rocky Top Invite, Big 10 Invitational, Women's Sprints, Big10, Big 12 and WCC Championships, EARC Sprints, and the IRA National Championships. She also provided expert rowing commentary for the 2024 Paris Paralympics.
A native of St. Croix Falls, Wisconsin, Kalmoe earned bachelor's degrees in English and Latin from the University of Washington in 2006. She lives in San Diego and enjoys hiking, paddle boarding, cycling, knitting, doing the New York Times Crossword, and letter-writing in her spare time. She has two cats, Cormac and Seamus.
