Extra-Oar-dinary: Harvard-Radcliffe Heavyweight Rowing’s Kathryn Serra Named USRowing U23 Athlete of the Year

Harvard-Radcliffe Heavyweight Rowing’s Kathryn Serra ’27 is making waves this semester: just three weeks into the school year, USRowing named her U23 Athlete of the Year. This prestigious award marks Serra’s final year rowing at Harvard. It opens a new chapter as she continues with the national team, hoping to earn a spot on the Senior National team after graduation.

Serra has competed for the U.S. National Team since 2024, earning two silver medals and even a gold this past summer in the quadruple sculls. This robust career began years ago. “I started in high school, just because my best friends were on the team. But my first year of rowing the whole year was [at Harvard],” Serra said in an interview with the “Harvard Independent.”

A Miami native, Serra also ran cross country and played basketball throughout high school. She finished her first half-marathon alongside her father at just 12. Then, despite being raised in the warmth of Florida, Northeast schools caught her attention during recruitment. Sure, those schools had four seasons, but more importantly for Serra, they offered prime waters for rowing training.

“Rowing on the Charles is incredible,” Serra shared. “Seeing all the different universities on the river is amazing. I feel like in a lot of places, there [aren’t] that many other teams on the water, but just getting to represent Radcliffe and all the history behind it is pretty incredible.”

Even in the boathouse, Serra is always putting on a show. She has broken the boathouse ergometer records for the 6k and 2k, with an astounding 6:37 for the 2k. This speed isn’t the only thing that drew USRowing’s attention—she believes her bravery in trying a completely new event was important to her nomination.

Usually a sweep rower, Serra rows starboard in the middle four—often called the ‘engine room’ of an eight. However, she recently took a shot at sculling: instead of using one oar, as in sweep rowing, sculling uses two oars—one in each hand—to propel the boat forward. Sculling is typically used in smaller boats, such as singles, doubles, or quads.

“I tried sculling this summer when I usually sweep, and it’s like the quad—the U.S. hasn’t always podiumed in the quad. We usually don’t, honestly. And so, it was kind of a scary challenge to do that after I’d been in the eight and gotten silver two years in a row,” Serra noted. “We kind of … just took a chance and decided to try sculling in my final year, and it ended up working out.”

Despite being on the U.S. U23 National Team for three years, receiving the award still came as a surprise. “I guess I was just so shocked when I saw that I was nominated for that because just knowing who else has won that award in the past, they’re people that I have always looked up to in rowing,” Serra remarked. “I’m very honored to receive the same award.”

Serra’s selection for the U.S. U23 National Team was no easy feat. Interested rowers must submit an application with their ergometer scores for the 6K, 2K, 100m sprint, and one-minute times, which is only the first benchmark. These tests often require highly competitive scores, with a sub-7-minute 2K score common among the U23 National Team.

Afterward, selected athletes are invited to selection camps, which include intense, elite-level training (such as seat racing or time trials) for five weeks, to test athletes on their speed, endurance, and teamwork skills. The team then selects athletes based on these metrics to compete.

Another momentous event in her rowing career actually occurred at home. Although their permanent training location is the Weld Boathouse on the Charles, the team often travels for big tournaments, and she had the opportunity to compete in her home state. “We went to Florida [for] the Big Ten Invite. We raced a lot of other really fast schools, and we did really well there. We walked through a lot of programs that we were unsure we would beat,” Serra said. “It was pretty cool to have my family be there too.”

Serra’s biggest support comes from her family, particularly her dad, who has been foundational in her rowing career. “My dad didn’t row, but he definitely has always pushed me in these sports. When I was 10 years old, he had me running up and down 27 floors in my building before I could hang out with my friends,” Serra said. She shared that her dad has always been an active participant in her rowing career, and even completes his own 2K tests on his ergometer in Miami and sends Serra his score.

“My dad escaped Cuba when he was in his early 30s, and just hearing his stories and how much he had to persevere in his childhood—I’ll think about that a lot when I’m doing hard workouts, and I’m in a lot of pain and doubting if I can finish [the workout] and achieve the split that I want,” Serra continued. “I’ll think, ‘This is nothing compared to what my dad went through in Cuba. I can get through this if my dad can go on a raft for 90 miles.’”

Serra noted that one of her pre-race rituals is calling her parents to calm down and get her mind off it, along with listening to music. “I start off with more peaceful music, like my Christian music, and then as the race is getting closer, maybe I’ll shift to my Cuban, more hype music and just have fun with my friends.”

Serra also shared how important her faith is to her success and motivation. “My faith is always also pretty important to me: Trusting that God is working everything together for my good, and even through the setbacks or injuries, I know there’s a greater plan, and I don’t have to spiral,” she said.

Even in her advice to young rowers just starting, Serra highlighted how important her friends are to her love of the sport. “My favorite part about rowing is how mentally tough you have to be, and digging in the pain cave, and doing it alongside my best friends. Enjoy all those sessions with your best friends right beside each other, fighting and giving it all you have with them and for them, because that will take you far,” she shared.

Serra is one of three Harvard-Radcliffe rowers who competed in the 2026 U23 World Championships: Viktoria Ekstrand ’29 and Jacqueline Stjernfeldt ’28 competed as a pair, rowing the 2- for Sweden. But she is the first Harvard-Radcliffe athlete to receive USRowing’s Female U23 Athlete of the Year, and she continues her accomplished rowing career with high hopes.

Annelise Paczesny ’29 (akpaczesny@college.harvard.edu) is comping the “Harvard Independent” and enjoys watching the women’s rowing teams cruise down the Charles from her Winthrop dorm window.