(Photo Courtesy of Miami Athletics)
With the sound of a megaphone and echo from Miami Head Coach, James Mulcahy, the Hurricanes make an effort to not just reign in the Sunshine State, but make their brand well-known around the globe. Mulcahy’s standard doesn’t waver one measure and his goals for the Miami Rowing program remain ever true to the ideology that “Great is the Truth.”
It is safe to say that the rowing world knows that the athletes who carry the weight both figuratively and verbatim within the rowing shell tend to get overlooked by most observers solely due to their ratio of 8:1 or 4:1 depending on which boat class is in the topic of discussion.
When you look at the BIG THREE — Baseball, Basketball, and Football, the following terms remain an icebreaker hooking the conversationalists to immediate dialogue and an array of highly-passionate perspectives and utter takes on if teams across the nation are putting out their very best and elite gamechangers to seal the deal come gameday.
FSN’s recent installment, coined as “First String” is set in stone for what we as a Staff believe is one of the most critical positions in College Rowing combining an array of leadership impacts and value far beyond the waterway. We give this series to the “9th Seats” of the sport that drastically make or break the results on race day, to not only set the tone of the crew’s mentality and work-ethic stemmed in practice, but the forward-thinking, strategic, and highly-disciplined individual behind piecing the puzzle together for max-efficiency backed by a proficiency for accuracy, utmost teamwork, and support — the Coxswain.
In August of 2025, the FSN Staff circled the roundtable to spark the conversation amongst the College Rowing landscape and the tiers of elite drivers who in all reality earned a spotlight and their fair share of publicity backed by College Rowing’s leading analysts, For Stars Network’s Founder/CEO, Hudson Forster. Sharing his Top-10 Coxswains in both Men’s and Women’s Rowing, respectively, the crew received his highly-researched and data-driven list of Drivers who have big shoes to fill in 2026, and a team that will be corralled by their innate leadership stills and overall influence.
(Photo Courtesy of Miami Athletics)
With the next athlete “on deck” being a prized selection for FSN’s “First String” Coxswain Series, we bring you Southern California’s very own, University of Miami Senior, Loran Graves, who got her start coxing for Newport Aquatic Center under Varsity Men’s Head Coach, Nick D’Antoni, who eventually made his way over to HUDSON Boatworks after his tenure post at the NAC.
Ranked as the No. 7 Coxswain in Women’s Rowing during the Pre-Season by FSN, Graves, the older sister to Taryn Graves, who emerged as one of only a few dynamic 9th Seats in her class respectively, currently in her Sophomore Year at the University of Tennessee under Lady Vols Head Coach, Kim Cupini.
Graves was listed as one of five coxswains hailing from the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC), being the fourth-ranked out of seven at her position in the Class of 2026 as Senior nominees within the first-ever installment of Top-10 Coxswain Rankings at the collegiate level in history.
We had an opportunity to sit down with the cherished member from Miami Women’s Rowing, a four-time ACC Rowing Championships competitor and two-time All-Conference Varsity Eight Grand-Finalist, answering to inspire the next generation of elite facilitators in the United States and beyond. Ready to launch, and rallying the cluster of Hurricanes, let’s get dialed with Loran Graves:
FSN: What is one token of advice for Coxswains embarking on their Freshmen Year in College?
Loran Graves: One piece of advice I’d give to coxswains starting their freshman year of college is to embrace adaptability. When I look back on my own freshman year, one of the biggest challenges was adjusting to how different a college program was compared to my high school experience. Those differences weren’t negative or positive, they were just different and learning how to adapt was essential.
When you enter a new program, especially at the collegiate level, it’s important to understand that the system is already moving. You have to learn how to mesh with the culture, the coaching style, and the team dynamic that’s already in place, while still finding ways to bring your own strengths and personality. That balance is really key.
For me, that meant becoming more comfortable with change and being open to feedback, even when it challenged what I thought I knew. As a coxswain, I had to adapt the way I communicated, how I led, and how I supported my teammates so I could best serve this team, not the one I came from. Learning to adapt while continuing to develop my own voice and skill set has been a huge part of my growth and something I think has helped with my success in rowing and beyond.
(Photo Courtesy of Miami Athletics)
FSN: How do you work on your craft outside of the Coxswain Seat rather than just listening to Coxswain Recordings?
Loran Graves: This might sound silly, but I spend a lot of time talking to myself in the mirror. I’ll sit there and practice cadence calls or specific calls that my crew has asked me to work on. You can’t expect to improve at anything unless you dedicate time to practicing it.
Talking things through with my sister, who is also a coxswain, is especially beneficial because we can bounce ideas off each other. I do the same with the other coxswains on my team because we all have the same job, and hearing different perspectives and experiences helps me grow.
FSN: What are your top three songs to listen to before Practice and then for Race Day? Are they the same or do they vary?
Loran Graves: When it comes to practice, we take a bus there and back every day so I don't have a specific song for the rides. I am usually playing my playlist of the month for the drive there. On Race Day, any rap song, but if I had to pick a specific rapper maybe 21 Savage or Future.
(Photo Courtesy of Miami Athletics)
FSN: What is one call or move that you made in a Race that you’ll never forget?
Loran Graves: Last year in the Varsity Eight, we came up with a fun call that we named the “Hurricane Warning.” Obviously this fits into our school theme very well, but it also was just a phrase that we all just knew meant it was time to go. I have chills thinking about the first time I made the call because we really did just go. I just remember how happy we were as a boat, and it felt like we found ourselves as a crew.
FSN: How important to you is 1:1 Coxswain Coaching during high school and what was the best tip you received from a Coach, Mentor or even Teammate?
Loran Graves: I believe that the one-on-one coxswain coaching I received in high school played a major role in my success as a coxswain. From my freshman year through halfway into my junior year, I was a rower on the women’s team. I then made the jump to the varsity men’s team with zero prior coxing experience.
In those first few months, I learned an incredible amount from my head coach, Nick D’Antoni. He didn’t just teach me concepts, he would put me in the boat and force me to learn through real experience. While this was absolutely terrifying at times, it pushed me to think quickly and perform under pressure, which are essential skills for a coxswain.
In addition to that coaching, I would say that working side by side with other high-level coxswains on my team also shaped me into the coxswain I am today.
(Photo Courtesy of Miami Athletics)
FSN: Where does Motivation rank out of the most important characteristics about being an Elite Coxswain for you on a scale of 1-10, ten being the least important?
Loran Graves: While I do value the motivational aspect of coxing, I don’t believe it is the most important characteristic of a coxswain. I would rank it around a six. Coxswains are not there to be cheerleaders, but it is still necessary to know your rowers well enough to understand how to motivate them when it matters. Trust, however, is one of the most important, if not the most important qualities of a coxswain. Coaches need to trust you, rowers need to trust you, and you need to trust yourself. With so many things happening at once, a coxswain must be able to stay composed, avoid becoming overwhelmed, and handle any situation that arises.
FSN: How often are you coaching your rowers while on land? Did anyone teach you when to back off giving Critiques or Extrinsic Motivation and when to step in while the athletes are on the ergs or did it just come naturally?
Loran Graves: I would say that water coxing comes more naturally to me than land coxing. We don’t spend much time on land, being in Miami and all, but when we do, I make a point to talk with my coaches about what to look for and what is important to point out on the erg. No one explicitly taught me when to back off, but some rowers clearly dislike being coxed during an erg piece, and they make that known. I’ve noticed that feedback is better received and understood during off sections of an erg piece, so when the erging picks back up, I can limit my input to small technical cues rather than long, drawn-out explanations while they’re working.
FSN: What are three words that you believe best illustrate your character as a leader within your program?
Loran Graves: Compassionate, Empowering, and Persistent.
FSN: What do you want to be remembered for during your time in the saddle as a Miami Hurricane?
Loran Graves: I love the word legacy. I always ask the girls in my boat, “What kind of legacy do you want to leave behind for this program?” When I came here as a freshman, there wasn’t a coxswain culture or any previously established coxswain traditions. Together, that year, we were able to establish what a Miami coxswain is. From the simple things, like how we prepare for practice, to how we execute a race and how we treat each other both on and off the water. When coxswain recruits come to Miami, the first thing we talk about is the coxswain culture here and how important it is to a program’s success as we continue to build. I would like to think I was a big part of building that up.