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Fan's Choice Award Winners

2011 USRowing Fan’s Choice Award Winners

Rowing enthusiasts throughout the country made their choices for the inaugural USRowing "Fan's Choice" Awards, co-sponsored by row2k Media. While USRowing maintains a strong and long tradition of rewarding excellence in rowing, 2011 marked the first time that the rowing community was invited to participate by nominating and voting on their favorite athletes and coaches of the year.

Junior Rower of the Year
Rebecca Burns

Annapolis Rowing Club’s Rebecca Burns was the overwhelming choice as the recipient of the Junior Rower of the Year award. A dedicated coxswain, Burns persevered through challenging personal conditions in 2011 after losing her mother. She successfully juggled coxing for both the junior and masters teams, coxed the men’s junior four with coxswain and eight for the Southeast Juniors at the USRowing Club National Championships and finished the summer by winning three gold medals at the USRowing Masters National Championships.

Collegiate Rower of the Year
Greg Flood

University of Notre Dame’s Greg Flood was the fan’s choice for Collegiate Rower of the Year. After starting to row as a walk-on his freshman year, the senior captain helped elevate Notre Dame’s stature through testing and fundraising. In 2011, he was the fastest collegiate and fastest American in the lightweight division at the C.R.A.S.H.-B. World Indoor Rowing Championships.
 Flood was a first-team, All-ACRA selection and a bronze medalist in the eight at the 2011 ACRA Championships. He also made the under 23 national team in the lightweight four, finishing ninth at the 2011 World Rowing Under 23 Championships in Amsterdam. Flood, of Tulsa, Okla., is now training at the USRowing Training Center in Oklahoma City.

Masters Rower of the Year
Sean Durkin

Potomac Boat Club’s Sean Durkin was named the winner of the Masters Rower of the Year award. Durkin, who was elected captain of the boat club just last spring, won five gold medals and one silver medal at the 2011 USRowing Masters National Championships in Oklahoma City, Okla., and helped lead the Potomac team to its first men’s point trophy.
A senior business analyst in the Washington D.C. area, Durkin began rowing at 24 as a walk-on at San Diego State University. Following high school, he enlisted in the Navy, served six years and then went to college.

National Team Rower of the Year
Mary Whipple

Women’s eight coxswain Mary Whipple edged out lightweight Andrew Campbell to win the National Team Rower of the Year award. Whipple, a two-time Olympian, steered the women’s eight to gold at the 2011 Samsung World Rowing Cup in Lucerne, Switzerland, a victory in the Remenham Challenge Cup at the Henley Royal Regatta (setting a course record), and its sixth consecutive world title at the 2011 World Rowing Championships in Bled, Slovenia. She is currently ranked second in World Rowing’s list of top 10 most accomplished active rowers.

Junior Coach of the Year
Sally Morris

Phillips Exeter Academy varsity girl’s coach Sally Morris was the fan’s choice selection for Junior Coach of the Year. Morris led Exeter to the overall points trophy at the 2011 New England Interscholastic Rowing Association Championships, winning the top three girl’s eights races. Her varsity eight went on to finish fourth at the 2011 USRowing Youth National Championships. During her tenure, Morris has transformed Exeter into a high-school rowing powerhouse.

Collegiate Coach of the Year
John Murphy

Brown University’s John Murphy was selected as the winner of the Collegiate Coach of the Year award. Along with his wife, associate head coach Phoebe Murphy, he has won seven NCAA championships in the 15 seasons since the competition began. At the 2011 NCAA Championships, Brown’s varsity eight finished second overall to secure the team title over Stanford University.
After winning the program's first championship in 1999, Murphy and the Bears went on to win again in 2000, 2002, 2004, 2007, 2008 and 2011 – an astonishing run of seven titles in 13 years. Murphy is also a six-time winner of the EAWRC Coach of the Year award and the 2007 recipient of USRowing’s Ernestine Bayer Award.

Masters Coach of the Year
Jenn Gibbons

Jenn Gibbons of ROW Recovery on Water – Chicago is the recipient of the Masters Coach of the Year award. Gibbons is the founder of the empowering rowing team for breast cancer survivors. She has built a community of passionate rowers who help each other and bring awareness to the cause. Gibbons is a tremendous motivator, coach, counselor and true friend to many. She is committed to developing strong rowers and kicking cancer.