FSN Freshman Phenom Coxswains Criteria:
▪️Top-10 Freshman Phenom Coxswains: All-Division 1 Women’s Rowing
The Driver. The Mastermind Behind The Scenes. The Coach’s Eyes and Ears. The List Goes On.
At the collegiate level, you often come across athletes with superb talent, but in the coxswain world, not too many stories or special interest stories take shape as the scene remains fairly recluse to the mainstream sports media and their rower counterparts.
After our recent project encapsulating some of the most dynamic Freshman Rowers heading into the 2026 Season, the FSN Team sat down and curated one of the most unprecedented and historic lists of Freshman Talent, specifically for the 2025-2026 Season, across all arenas of Women’s Collegiate Rowing, being the first of its kind, and this time around, directly for the 9th Seat.
The impact that these Freshman are making both on water and land is monumental. Head Coaches identifying these mental masterminds as having such an incredible start to their collegiate career and the amount of potential each of them hold in their program is quite honestly astonishing.
FSN Founder & CEO, Hudson Forster, who has quickly become one of Collegiate Rowing’s Leading Analysts, recognized by the NCAA, Power 4 Conferences, and additional coaches unions and organizations, went straight to the FSN Front Office stating that “The Freshman Coxswain Talent for Women’s Rowing heading into the 2026 season might be the most STACKED per capita in college rowing history.”
Covering both the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC), Big Ten Conference (B1G), Ivy League, and Southeastern Conference (SEC), and the perennial powerhouses rooted in the complex assortment of elite rowing programs in Division 1 Women’s Rowing, the ACC takes 1st Overall with the largest mode of assortment of athletes selected in our FSN Pre-Season Coxswain Honors, and an even number split up between the Big Ten, Ivy League, and SEC each with two coxswains representing their conference, respectively.
Each individual featured on this select list, have demonstrated their ability both at the domestic and even international level during their years coxing at the Youth Level, that certify the fact that they are more than ready to take on the leadership demands of some of the best collegiate rowing programs in the country. Their pure Athlete IQ, boat feel, encouragement for their teammates on and off the water, and the ability to remain coachable in the preparation for a mighty 2026 racing season, ranges at some of the highest percentages in their class earning a proper “hat-tip” from the FSN Front Office.
2025-2026 FSN Freshman Phenom Coxswains All-Division 1 Women’s Rowing:
1. Addison DerGarabedian, Clemson
2. Nava Ruthfield, Stanford
3. Isabelle Goldstein, Harvard
4. Olivia Cabrera, Dartmouth
5. Grace Galipeau, USC
6. Chloe Milz, California
7. Lily Sica, Tennessee
8. Zulema Zunzunegui, Michigan
9. Maddie Wilson, Texas
10. Ava Kellman, Duke