Megan Cooke Carcagno (born May 5, 1980, in Los Gatos, California) is an American rower. She was a gold medalist at the 2006 World Rowing Cup and a gold medalist at the 2006 FISA World Rowing Championships, assisting in setting a world best time for the U.S. National Team. She was also a 2006 champion at the Henley Royal Regatta and the Head of the Charles Regatta.

Megan Cooke
Personal information
BornMay 5, 1980 (1980-05-05) (age 43)
Los Gatos, California, United States
Alma materUniversity of California, Berkeley
SpouseSimon Carcagno
Medal record
Women's rowing
Representing  United States
World Rowing Championships
Gold medal – first place 2006 Eton Eights [1]
World Rowing Cup [2]
Gold medal – first place 2006 Lucerne Coxless Pairs
Silver medal – second place 2007 Lucerne Coxless Pairs
Silver medal – second place 2007 Lintz Coxless Pairs

Early life edit

Megan Cooke was born on May 5, 1980, in Los Gatos, California.[3] She began rowing her sophomore year of high school.[4] Cooke graduated from the University of California at Berkeley in 2002 with a degree in psychology.[4][5]

Career edit

Rowing edit

Cooke was on the rowing team at the University of California at Berkeley, earning first team All-American honors twice along with first team All-Region and first team All-Pac accolades.[6] She was the co-captain of the rowing team her junior and senior years, earning fourth place at the 2000 NCAA Championships and third place in the 2002. In 2001 she won a silver medal in the women's four without coxswain at the 2001 World Under-23 Championships.[5] Cooke joined the U.S. National Team for rowing in 2004. Her last year on the national team was 2007. In 2006, as part of the U.S. World Champion women's eight, she helped set a world record for Team USA. She was also a 2006 Henley Royal Regatta champion and 2006 Head of the Charles Regatta champion.[4] She won a silver medal in coxless pairs and a gold medal in the women's pair with partner Anna Mickelson at the 2006 World Rowing Cup in Lucerne.[2] She placed fifth in the 2006 World Rowling Cup in Munich.[7] Cooke competed in the 2006 FISA World Rowing Championships in Eton, helping her team win a gold medal with a world best time of 5:55.50.[1] She was a silver medalist at the World Rowing Cup in Lintz. An injury in 2008 set Cooke back during the Senior Women's National Team's bids for the 2008 Summer Olympics.[4] She retired from the U.S. National Team in 2008.

Coaching edit

After retiring from the United States National Team in 2008, Cooke worked as an assistant rowing coach for the University of Wisconsin, winning 2 NCAA South/Central Championships in the Novice 8. Cooke was named the new varsity assistant coach at the University of Wisconsin beginning in the fall of 2013.[8] Cooke was named varsity head coach of the Duke University Women's Rowing program in 2016.[9] She coached the team to a second-place finish at ACC's even without fielding a boat for the 2nd Varsity 4+, with the 1st Varsity and 2nd Varsity 8+'s as well as the 1st Varsity 4+, taking second place; the team's best performance since 2006. In 2016 she was awarded ACC Coach of the Year. This resulted in the team's first bid to NCAA's in Sacramento, California. The team achieved its highest CRCA ranking at 12th, with the team finishing in 17th at NCAA's in a tiebreaker. The 2nd Varsity 8+ and the 1st Varsity 4+ won their C Finals at NCAA's. She won CRCA Regional Coach of the Year and the Duke University staff, consisting of assistant coaches Chuck Rodosky and Chase Graham, won CRCA Division I Staff of the Year.[5][6]

Personal life edit

Cooke is married to Simon Carcagno and has three sons.[9]

See also edit

Simon Carcagno Duke University University of Wisconsin rowing team

References edit

  1. ^ a b "California Golden Bears - Official Athletic Site". Archived from the original on November 2, 2006. Retrieved August 19, 2008.
  2. ^ a b "Mickelson Crew: Anna's Bio". Archived from the original on August 1, 2007. Retrieved April 12, 2007.
  3. ^ "Megan Cooke's Profile". Calbears.cstv.com. Archived from the original on January 20, 2013. Retrieved November 5, 2017.
  4. ^ a b c d "Bending the Oar – Club Strives to Make Rowing Accessible to North State Youth - North State Parent magazine". northstateparent.com. Archived from the original on August 31, 2015.
  5. ^ a b c "Megan Cooke Carcagno Hired as Rowing Head Coach".
  6. ^ a b "Megan Cooke Carcagno Bio". Archived from the original on August 24, 2019. Retrieved March 23, 2018.
  7. ^ "Mickelson Crew: Anna's Bio". www.mickelsoncrew.com. Archived from the original on August 1, 2007. Retrieved January 12, 2022.
  8. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on October 7, 2014. Retrieved November 6, 2013.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  9. ^ a b "The Good Coach - Rowing News". www.rowingnews.com. Archived from the original on March 23, 2018.