Megan Cooke Carcagno (born May 5, 1980) is an American

rower Rowing, often called crew in the United States, is the sport of racing boats using oars. It differs from paddling sports in that rowing oars (called blades in the United Kingdom) are attached to the boat using rowlocks, while paddles are ...

. She was a gold medalist at the 2006

World Rowing Cup The World Rowing Cup is an international rowing competition organized by FISA (the International Rowing Federation). It began in 1997 and comprises three regattas (apart from in 2001 when there were four) held throughout early summer. In each ...

and a gold medalist at the 2006

FISA The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 (FISA, , ) is a United States federal law that establishes procedures for the surveillance and collection of foreign intelligence on domestic soil.

World Rowing Championships The World Rowing Championships is an international Rowing (sport), rowing regatta organized by International Rowing Federation, FISA (the International Rowing Federation). It is a week-long event held at the end of the northern hemisphere summer ...

, assisting in setting a world best time for the U.S. National Team. She was also a 2006 champion at the

Henley Royal Regatta Henley Royal Regatta (or Henley Regatta, its original name pre-dating Royal patronage) is a Rowing (sport), rowing event held annually on the River Thames by the town of Henley-on-Thames, England. It was established on 26 March 1839. It diffe ...

and the

Head of the Charles Regatta The Head of the Charles Regatta, also known as HOCR, is a rowing head race held on the penultimate complete weekend of October (i.e., on the Friday that falls between the 16th and the 22nd of the month, and on the Saturday and Sunday immed ...

Early life

Megan Cooke was born on May 5, 1980, in

Los Gatos, California Los Gatos (; ; ) is an List of municipalities in California, incorporated town in Santa Clara County, California, United States. The population is 33,529 according to the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is located in the San Franc ...

. She began rowing her sophomore year of high school. Cooke graduated from the

University of California at Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after the Anglo-Irish philosopher George Berkele ...

in 2002 with a degree in psychology.

Career

Rowing

Cooke was on the rowing team at the University of California at Berkeley, earning first team All-American honors twice along with first team All-Region and first team All-Pac accolades. She was the co-captain of the rowing team her junior and senior years, earning fourth place at the 2000

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

Championships and third place in the 2002. In 2001 she won a silver medal in the women's four without coxswain at the 2001 World Under-23 Championships. Cooke joined the U.S. National Team for rowing in 2004. Her last year on the national team was 2007. In 2006, as part of the U.S. World Champion women's eight, she helped set a world record for Team USA. She was also a 2006

champion and 2006

champion. She won a silver medal in coxless pairs and a gold medal in the women's pair with partner Anna Mickelson at the 2006

Lucerne Lucerne ( ) or Luzern ()Other languages: ; ; ; . is a city in central Switzerland, in the Languages of Switzerland, German-speaking portion of the country. Lucerne is the capital of the canton of Lucerne and part of the Lucerne (district), di ...

. She placed fifth in the 2006 World Rowling Cup in

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

. Cooke competed in the 2006

Eton Eton most commonly refers to Eton College, a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. Eton may also refer to: Places *Eton, Berkshire, a town in Berkshire, England *Eton, Georgia, a town in the United States *Éton, a commune in the Meuse depa ...

, helping her team win a gold medal with a world best time of 5:55.50. She was a silver medalist at the World Rowing Cup in Lintz. An injury in 2008 set Cooke back during the Senior Women's National Team's bids for the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes fro ...

. She retired from the U.S. National Team in 2008.

Coaching

After retiring from the United States National Team in 2008, Cooke worked as an assistant rowing coach for the

University of Wisconsin A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Uni ...

, winning 2

South/Central Championships in the Novice 8. Cooke was named the new varsity assistant coach at the

beginning in the fall of 2013. Cooke was named varsity head coach of the

Duke University Duke University is a Private university, private research university in Durham, North Carolina, United States. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity, North Carolina, Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1 ...

Women's Rowing program in 2016. She coached the team to a second-place finish at ACC's even without fielding a boat for the 2nd Varsity 4+, with the 1st Varsity and 2nd Varsity 8+'s as well as the 1st Varsity 4+, taking second place; the team's best performance since 2006. In 2016 she was awarded ACC Coach of the Year. This resulted in the team's first bid to NCAA's in Sacramento, California. The team achieved its highest CRCA ranking at 12th, with the team finishing in 17th at NCAA's in a tiebreaker. The 2nd Varsity 8+ and the 1st Varsity 4+ won their C Finals at NCAA's. She won CRCA Regional Coach of the Year and the Duke University staff, consisting of assistant coaches Chuck Rodosky and Chase Graham, won CRCA Division I Staff of the Year.

Personal life

Cooke is married to Simon Carcagno and has three sons.

References