Kate Bertko, one of the nation's most decorated lightweight rowers and a 2016 Olympian, coached the Stanford lightweight team to three consecutive Intercollegiate Rowing Association national championships since taking over before the 2016-17 season.
Bertko is a three-time IRA and the Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association Lightweight Rowing National Coach of the Year.
Though most of the 2019-20 season, including the IRA Championships, was canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Stanford has won every national team title since Bertko took over the Cardinal program.
Backed by victories from its varsity eight and varsity four at the 2019 championships, Stanford maintained ownership of the Commissioner Cup for the fifth consecutive year. The Cardinal has claimed nine IRA national team championships overall, the most in the history of the sport and four more than the next closest competitor.
In her first season, the Cardinal earned open-water victories in the varsity eight, varsity four and double at the 2017 IRA Championships in Gold River, California. It was the first time all three boats won the IRA title in the same season. In 2018, the championship regatta was cut short due to deteriorating weather conditions, but Stanford performed better than any other program to that point and was awarded the title, Bertko's second.
Eight of Bertko's rowers have earned nine All-America honors by the CRCA, including Shea Cours, who earned two of her three All-America honors while rowing for Bertko.
A seven-year member of the national team, Bertko was named the 2013 USRowing Female Athlete of the Year.
In the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Bertko placed 10th in the lightweight double sculls, A four-time medalist on the international level, Bertko captured the silver medal in the lightweight double sculls at the 2013 World Championships and the bronze medal in the lightweight single sculls at both the 2014 and 2015 World Championships.
She led the U.S. to the silver medal in the open quadruple sculls at the 2009 World Championships. She has competed in six world championship regattas overall, also representing the U.S. in 2010 and 2011. She also set a course record, en route to a gold medal in the single sculls, at the 2013 Head of the Charles.
Bertko’s coaching experience includes positions at California, Princeton, and at the junior level with the Oakland Strokes. She served as an assistant coach at California during the 2007 season, coaching the varsity four to a bronze medal at the 2007 NCAA Championships.
Outside of rowing, the Oakland native has taken a lead role in a number of extensive postgraduate research initiatives that led to publication in several medical journals.
Bertko earned her degree in ecology and evolutionary biology from Princeton in 2006. During her collegiate career, the Tigers captured the varsity eight NCAA championship in 2006 and took home the silver in 2005.
Bertko is a three-time IRA and the Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association Lightweight Rowing National Coach of the Year.
Though most of the 2019-20 season, including the IRA Championships, was canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Stanford has won every national team title since Bertko took over the Cardinal program.
Backed by victories from its varsity eight and varsity four at the 2019 championships, Stanford maintained ownership of the Commissioner Cup for the fifth consecutive year. The Cardinal has claimed nine IRA national team championships overall, the most in the history of the sport and four more than the next closest competitor.
In her first season, the Cardinal earned open-water victories in the varsity eight, varsity four and double at the 2017 IRA Championships in Gold River, California. It was the first time all three boats won the IRA title in the same season. In 2018, the championship regatta was cut short due to deteriorating weather conditions, but Stanford performed better than any other program to that point and was awarded the title, Bertko's second.
Eight of Bertko's rowers have earned nine All-America honors by the CRCA, including Shea Cours, who earned two of her three All-America honors while rowing for Bertko.
A seven-year member of the national team, Bertko was named the 2013 USRowing Female Athlete of the Year.
In the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Bertko placed 10th in the lightweight double sculls, A four-time medalist on the international level, Bertko captured the silver medal in the lightweight double sculls at the 2013 World Championships and the bronze medal in the lightweight single sculls at both the 2014 and 2015 World Championships.
She led the U.S. to the silver medal in the open quadruple sculls at the 2009 World Championships. She has competed in six world championship regattas overall, also representing the U.S. in 2010 and 2011. She also set a course record, en route to a gold medal in the single sculls, at the 2013 Head of the Charles.
Bertko’s coaching experience includes positions at California, Princeton, and at the junior level with the Oakland Strokes. She served as an assistant coach at California during the 2007 season, coaching the varsity four to a bronze medal at the 2007 NCAA Championships.
Outside of rowing, the Oakland native has taken a lead role in a number of extensive postgraduate research initiatives that led to publication in several medical journals.
Bertko earned her degree in ecology and evolutionary biology from Princeton in 2006. During her collegiate career, the Tigers captured the varsity eight NCAA championship in 2006 and took home the silver in 2005.