For Stars Network’s Inaugural Watchlist for Division 1 Men’s Lightweight Rowing has officially been released headed into the 2026 College Rowing Season.
The Men’s Lightweight Sprints League is as capricious as possible especially surrounding the No. 6-11 Programs in the Nation, and it’s not even a question. With the historic 2025 Campaign from Harvard winning the “Triple Crown” and going Back-To-Back at both the Eastern Sprints and National Championship, the Crimson is turning their program into a perennial powerhouse while simultaneously morphing into a juggernaut.
Ultimately, the FSN Staff knew it was time to finally release the long overdue list of emerging players competing in Lightweight Rowing at the Division 1 College Level who are steadily on the rise and performing well early on in the season. It would be uncustomary to justify that these athletes would be considered the best in the game or within their program alone, given that these athletes are fresh faces as FSN Honorees, but there’s one element that doesn’t waver one measure — each athlete is climbing up the leaderboard on their team exponentially.
Harvard’s got Freshmen in the mix, with the overall vast majority being seasoned vets in the sport with several years of high-level experience and exposure to the best caliber rowers in the league. We are confident that these rowers either have or will make a positive impact on their program during their years racing Coast-To-Coast in 2026.
Yes — Any miracle can take shape in College Rowing. New stars will begin to build, other oarsmen will take this season to mature and establish themselves well, and coaches may flip the script and arrange their lineups in non-typical fashion to see if extra speed can be showcased come race day.
Listed below is our general consensus of our unranked selections approaching the Spring 2026 Season’s most burgeoning players.
QUICK STATS:
▪️Athlete Count: 32 (1-3 Per Team)
▪️Conference Count: 1
▪️Team Count: 11
▪️Coxswain Ratio: N/A
▪️Rower Ratio: 32/32
CRITERIA:
These athletes have successfully earned FSN Honors and were nominated by the FSN Core Staffers multifariously and ultimately decided upon due to the following:
Rowing Season (2024-2025):
▪️Regular Season Matchups
▪️EARC Championship Placement & Results
▪️National Championship Lineups & Results
Rowing Season (2025-2026):
▪️Fall Racing (Regattas & Scrimmages)
Miscellaneous:
▪️Comparative Erg Times
▪️International Results
▪️Positive Yearly Trajectory (Talent & Raw Skill)
▪️Coaching Staff Nominations
NOMINATIONS: (Name, School)
▪️James Dodman, Columbia
▪️Danny Schaffer, Columbia
▪️Josh Wang, Columbia
▪️Owen Brown, Cornell
▪️Eric Genden, Cornell
▪️Max Purcea, Cornell
▪️Henry Bedell, Dartmouth
▪️Inigo Shorrock, Dartmouth
▪️Sam Welsh, Dartmouth
▪️Aaditya Chowdhary, Georgetown
▪️Carter Walsh, Georgetown
▪️Herbie Austin-Baker, Harvard
▪️Maxton Kilroy, Harvard
▪️Jackson Violich, Harvard
▪️Tristian Chang, Mercyhurst
▪️James Garoh, Mercyhurst
▪️Ilias Petalidis, Mercyhurst
▪️Jonny Dase, MIT
▪️Will Savage, MIT
▪️Ryosei Tanakamaru, MIT
▪️John Michael Blake, Navy
▪️Max Gomez, Navy
▪️Alex Kaiser, Navy
▪️Matt Bouchard, Pennsylvania
▪️Rob Igic, Pennsylvania
▪️Anton Lohle, Pennsylvania
▪️Luke Helstrom, Princeton
▪️Jack Kiely, Princeton
▪️Sam Scowen, Princeton
▪️Max Blacksten, Yale
▪️Patrick Kennedy, Yale
▪️Ry Natterson, Yale