STANFORD, Calif. – Stanford’s Elliott Donovan-Davies was named as the inaugural Mountain Pacific Sport Federation Men’s Rowing Freshman of the Year on Thursday.
A native of Llanharan, Wales, Donovan-Davies has made a huge impact on the Cardinal varsity eight boat that is ranked No. 7 by the IRCA and placed third at the MPSF Championships Sunday.
From beginning of the season, Donovan-Davies has held the No. 7 seat, missing one race with injury. The Cardinal was 7-2 in the regular season with Donovan-Davies in the lineup, including a victory over No. 3 Brown. He also set Stanford’s freshman 2K record on the Concept2 rowing machine, at 5:48.5.
Competing for Great Britain in the quadruple sculls at the 2024 World Under-23 Rowing Championships, Donovan-Davies rowed in the No. 3 seat as the team placed sixth in the A final.
While at England’s Hartpury College, Donovan-Davies won the 2024 Open Championship Singles at the National Schools’ Regatta, the most prestigious race for British single scullers in the kingdom. He broke a course record that stood for 17 years.
The previous time a Stanford rower won a similar award was in 2023 when Caspar Griffin was named Pac-12 Newcomer of the Year.
Stanford also had two All-MPSF selections: senior James Fetter and graduate student Max Shakespeare. This is the first all-conference honor for each.
Fetter, without any previous competitive rowing experience, walked on to the team out of Palo Alto High in what was a difficult time for the program after threatened budget cuts. Fetter and two coxswains – Logan Morley and Noah Tan – represent the senior class.
Fetter worked his way up in responsibility, even as the team improved, and reached the varsity eight midway through his junior year. This season, Fetter has rowed in the No. 6 in all but one race this season and was in the stroke seat in the other.
Fetter represented the U.S. at the 2024 World U23 Championships in St. Catharines, Canada, placing second in the B final and eighth overall in the single sculls.
Shakespeare is a graduate transfer from Harvard and a native of Salisbury, England. Shakespeare has rowed in the No. 4 seat in every race and has provided experience to a 1V8+ lineup that included two freshmen and three sophomores in the lineup at the MPSF Championships.
Shakespeare won the 2018 world U19 championship in the men's eight for Great Britain, rowing in the No. 3 seat while suffering from a broken rib. He rowed for three seasons at Harvard, including with the fours at the IRA Championships last year.