STANFORD, Calif. – Stanford freshman John Piersma has been named the 2026 USRowing Under 19 National Team Male Athlete of the Year, USRowing announced Wednesday.
Piersma was selected by the athletes and coaches of the team that competed at the 2026 World Rowing Under 19 Championships and will be recognized at the 2026 Golden Oars Gala in November. He is the third consecutive Cardinal to win the award, following fellow freshman Tony Madigan in 2025 and sophomore Tyler Murphy in 2024.
Piersma was a member of the U.S. Under 19 National Team in 2025 and 2026, representing the United States in the men's four that finished sixth at the 2026 World Rowing Under 19 Championships.
“I am so incredibly grateful to be named the U19 Male Athlete of the Year,” Piersma told USRowing. “It is an honor to be named to this position by my coaches and teammates, all of whom pushed me into becoming the best version of myself.”
Piersma joins a Cardinal men’s rowing program that is coming off a season in which it was fifth in the Ten Eyck Trophy points standings at the IRA National Championship with 209 points, tying a program record for best finish with another fifth-place result in 2009. Stanford was awarded the Clayton Chapman Trophy at the conclusion of racing, which is given to the school that accumulates the greatest year-over-year increase in its Ten Eyck total point count.