SAN FRANCISCO – For the second year in a row, Stanford women's rowing swept the end-of-year awards from the Pac-12, announced Friday. Azja Czajkowski earned her second consecutive Pac-12 Athlete of the Year honor, Célia Dupré was named the Pac-12 Women's Rowing Newcomer of the Year, and head coach Derek Byrnes was selected as the Pac-12's Coach of the Year. Annabelle Bachmann, Lettie Cabot, Katelin Gildersleeve and Rachel Miller earned All-Pac-12 accolades for their strong performances this season.
Czajkowski is the Cardinal's first-ever two-time Athlete of the Year winner, continuing the legacy of previous winners Ruth Narode (2017), Anna Dawson (2014), Elle Logan (2011), Erika Roddy (2009) and Jessi Reel (2008). Czajkowski continued to be a stalwart in the Cardinal's varsity eight boat during the 2023 season, competing in the boat in all of Stanford's regular season races and at the 2023 Pac-12 Championship. Czajkowski and the varsity eight boat clinched the program's second consecutive conference title at Pac-12's with a first-place finish in the final race of the regatta.
Dupre is Stanford's fourth straight Newcomer of the Year winner, and the program's fifth recipient all-time, joining Iris Klok (2022), Mathilda Kitzmann (2021), Kelsey McGinley (2019) and Abby Loughery (2003). She was the lone first-year student in the Cardinal's varsity eight boat in 2023, racing in all regular-season competitions and at the conference title chase.
Byrnes earns his second Pac-12 Coach of the Year honor and becomes the only Stanford coach to be recognized as the conference's best in back-to-back seasons. Since 2017, he has led his team to six top-three finishes at the conference championship (including two consecutive conference championships) and five top-6 finishes at the NCAA Championships. With the Cardinal's victory at this year's conference title chase, Byrnes led Stanford to just its third Pac-12 title in program history.
Gildersleeve earns her second honor from the conference while Bachmann, Cabot and Miller each earn their first league awards. All four of Stanford's all-conference selections spent the season in the Cardinal's varsity eight boat that has not lost a race all season and earned the program's second consecutive varsity eight Pac-12 title that clinched the team conference championship.
The team concludes the season May 26-28 at the NCAA Championships in Pennsauken, N.J. The Cardinal enter the national championship regatta as the three seed in the varsity eight race, the five seed in the second varsity eight race, and the four seed in the varsity four competition.
