BY GEORGE: Princeton University women’s open rower Katherine George, center, displays her form in a race earlier this spring. Senior star George, a two-time All-America, is looking to end her Tiger career on a high note as Princeton competes in the NCAA Championships from May 30-June 1 at Mercer Lake. (Photo by Row2K, provided courtesy of Princeton Athletics)

By Bill Alden

Growing up in Chearsley, England, Katherine George dabbled in a lot of sports including swimming, lacrosse, field hockey, and netball.

But not excelling at any of them by the age of 15, George decided to take up rowing and immediately found a home on the water.

“I really enjoyed it, I knew it was something I wanted to do,” said George. “My dad rowed when he was younger, he never pressured me to do it or anything. I just knew that it was a sport that existed and he had been good at it.”

Getting off to a relatively late start, it took a while for George to become accomplished on the water.

“I was actually not very good when I was in high school,” said George. “I was doing well on the erg because I had power and fitness but my boat skills were pretty shabby. It was not great. I got into it because I was showing potential. I was just taking a bit longer to develop. We were only able to row twice a week on the water which is a part of why it took me longer to develop on the water. I didn’t really have much of fitness base before getting into the sport.”

Developing her fitness base, George turned heads as she rose through ranks of English rowing.

“I did junior trials when I was 16,17,” said George. “I did well on the ergs for that. I came in the top five for them, so that allowed me to start talking to U.S. universities.”

Turning her focus to joining an Ivy League program, George ended up choosing Princeton over Yale.

“I visited Princeton and Yale when I was in my junior year of high school and Princeton felt much more like the place for me,” said George. “I really got on with Lori (head coach Lori Dauphiny) and Steve (former assistant coach Steve Coppola). I could see myself having a good relationship with them so being coached by them was something that I really wanted. Lori had an amazing track record, she is a phenomenal coach. Sitting on the launch and watching the practices here, there was so much enthusiasm and so much energy. The girls on the team just seemed so authentic. It was much more of a gut feeling rather than something that stands out. It just felt like this is the right place to be and I was right.”

Upon arriving at Princeton in 2021, George showed the right stuff, developing into a star for the Tiger women’s open crew. She made the varsity eight as a freshman and helped it finish third at the NCAA Championships. George built on that strong start by earning All-American honors as a sophomore and junior. Serving as a team co-captain this spring, George helped the varsity eight place first at the Ivy Championships

This weekend, George will be looking to end her Tiger career on a high note as Princeton competes in the NCAA Championships from May 30-June 1 at Mercer Lake.

In reflecting on her progress, taking a gap year due to the COVID-19 pandemic made a big difference for George.

“That is when I really came into myself as an athlete, I had actually had the time to just focus on sports and focus on the rowing,” said George. “I was rowing at the Leander Club. A lot of the time I ended up just training at home by myself. It wasn’t the classic picturesque go on a gap year. It was very much ‘ohhhh, I am stuck at home and seeing nobody but I am erging all day, every day.’”

In subsequently joining the Princeton program, George had to make a quick transition from sculling to sweep rowing.

“I was sculling for all of my gap year and I ended up going with the Under-23 World Championships that summer in a double,” said George. “When I came back, I basically did two weeks of sweep in the U.K., raced Henley on the eights and then came over here, so I effectively was having to properly learn how to sweep. Once I got here, I knew how to do it, but it wasn’t to the same level as I wanted it to be. It was adapting to an American way of sweeping, the way that Lori was wanting it because everybody has to be doing the same thing.”

The team’s more experienced rowers helped George get up to speed.

“The whole environment from the get-go being here has been that everybody lifts each other up,” said George. “Everyone is always rooting for everyone else’s success, which was very appreciated.”
Princeton head coach Dauphiny credited George with being a quick study.

“She may have arrived with less experience than some of her peers, it never showed in how she approached rowing,” said Dauphiny of George. “Honestly, I don’t even remember thinking of her as inexperienced—her talent was immediately obvious. What stood out even more was her coachability and her eagerness to learn. She soaked up feedback, put in the extra work, and consistently made strides year after year.”

That work helped George earn All-American honors. “I knew it was a big accolade and I was like ‘that’s cool,’” said George. “That is amazing, nothing like that exists in the U.K. Looking at the other names on the list that got rewarded with this, I felt a lot of pride. I was very honored to be on this list with those other amazing athletes.”

A year later, George was a finalist for the Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association (CRCA) Athlete of the Year in addition to making All-American for a second straight season.

“I have always just been trying to improve myself and how can I keep getting better,” said George. “In doing so, no one is ever perfect and there is always more you can do. You can always keep getting better and better and keep pushing yourself forward and pushing your team forward. Just seeing it being recognized said yes you are trying to get better but look where you are at the moment. It was a very surreal feeling like ‘oh this is actually where you stand.’”

This spring, the Tiger varsity eight has experienced some tough moments, losing to Tennessee and Yale in regular season regattas.

“We have had a bit of an up-and-down season, but I think setbacks are fundamental to learning and improving,” said George, who has been rowing in the 5-seat on the top boat. “You can’t get better unless have setbacks. When you have a setback, the challenge is to not stay in this, in the sad light. You have to use it as a launch pad to get better, to motivate you and propel you forward. We lost this year but what are we going to do: change things and what went wrong. This is what we can do to improve, so using it to motivate you.”

In her role as a captain, along with classmate Ella Barry, George has assumed extra responsibility to motivate her teammates.

“It is by encouraging people that you can return things around,” said George. “Nothing is set, things can change and it is all about how you apply yourself and how you put yourself into these situations. You are capable of changing this around.”

In Dauphiny’s view, George’s leadership has helped keep the Tigers on track as they prepared for postseason competition.

“Katherine leads by example in all that she does,” said Dauphiny. “She never asks anything of her teammates that she wouldn’t do herself, and that consistency has earned her great respect within the team. She holds herself to incredibly high standards and encourages those around her to rise to their best as well.”

Heading into Ivy League Championships, George was confident that the Tigers would rise to the occasion.

“We have already lost to Yale, we have nothing else to lose,” said George. “We have so much to gain and not as much to lose. The pressure was on them. We had so much opportunity. I think we did a good job of seeing it as an exciting opportunity rather than being stressed about it which I think was a very positive way of getting into it. We put down a really solid heat. We raced it, not just time wise but also execution of the race.”

Producing a superb race in the Ivy grand final, Princeton took first, handing Yale its first defeat of the season in the process.

“Once we got into the final, we were so determined to execute what we knew, we could execute and in doing so we would beat Yale or we would be closer,” said George. “We just went in very determined and had this confidence, which won the race.”

In George’s view, that triumph was the product of a year-long process.

“It was amazing because we had been working so hard across the board, the whole boathouse has been working so hard all year,” said George. “From day one when everyone gets to campus, it is “what are our goals.” Performing well at Ivies and winning Ivies, that is a goal that everyone always says. From September, the whole boathouse has been working towards this. It was the 1V that won that event but it takes the entire boathouse to make a fast team and make fast boats. It was a very cool experience.”

Looking ahead to the NCAAs, George believes that Princeton can build on its performance at the Ivy regatta.

“I think it has given us a lot more confidence going into it,” said George. “It is a case of keeping the ball rolling. We don’t have to start over, we are just continuing. We have got the momentum, it is “keep going.” If we perform how we know we can, that will be enough. It has given everyone some more excitement and motivation in training.”

George’s performance over her Princeton career was recognized as she was named as one of five finalists for the C. Otto von Kienbusch Award given annually to a Princeton senior woman of high scholastic rank who has demonstrated general proficiency in athletics and the qualities of a true sportswoman.

“I am incredibly honored to be among them, it is so inspiring to be surrounded by so many female athletes,” said George of the award which went to track and cross country star Mena Scatchard, who also hails from England. “There are so many athletes from all different sports and from so many different backgrounds that come to Princeton wanting to perform for the university, for themselves and for their teams. I know how hard everyone works and how committed everyone is so to be named as one of the top five is amazing. I am extremely grateful and honored.”

Reflecting on her overall Princeton experience, George is grateful for how she has grown on and off the water over the last four years.

“It has taught me so much about who I am as a person,” said George, who will be joining the UK national rowing program after graduation. “It has taught me what it is to truly work hard, how to manage your time, how important balance is in your life and the importance of keeping your friends close to you. I think being captain has taught me a lot as well, just leading a group of 60 women. I think that has been a very good lesson and helped me grow a lot; managing all of these different relations and wanting to do what is right. I think that been massive.”

And there can be no doubt that George has made a massive impact on Tiger women’s rowing.