At the Boathouse, in a small room with unfinished walls and uneven floors, lies a single indoor rowing machine. While the machine belongs to the Augusta Rowing Club, nobody has used it more over the past year than Colette Kriegel.
The recent graduate of Davidson Fine Arts has only been rowing for a few years now, but her work ethic has catapulted her from relative unknown in the rowing world to one of the top junior rowers in the country. And during the Women’s Youth Single at the 2026 US Rowing Youth National Championship in Sarasota, Fla., Kriegel finished fifth, solidifying her as one of the country’s brightest young stars in the sport.
“For me, it’s just evidence of all the work I’ve been putting in for the past three years in rowing,” Kriegel said. “It’s so incredible to me because I didn’t even go last year to the nationals. And then to get top five in my senior year is just incredible, and is a testament to everything I’ve done and all the people who’ve helped me get here and what I’m excited to do in the future in college.”
The specific type of rowing that Kriegel competed in was sculling. As a single sculler, she sits in a boat with an oar in each hand. Her performance in competitions is entirely dependent on her, as opposed to sculling with multiple people or sweeping, which can be done with up to eight rowers.
Kriegel’s mental and physical fortitude had to be as sharp as ever to place top five in the nation. She had to push through the pain and discomfort in her arms and her legs during the race while also being her own mental coach, devoid of any external motivation or support with her being on the water alone. All that was on Kriegel’s mind was placing highly, and she managed to do just that
“To be an individual rower out there with nobody else talking to you,” said Chris Moore, head coach of the Augusta Rowing Club, “nobody else kind of pushing you along and feeling that drive of everybody else your boat, and to stay motivated enough to achieve what she’s done is really remarkable.”
Placing in national competitions used to be expected for Augusta Rowing Club back in the 90s. But over the years the participation in the sport and product on the water has dwindled. Kriegel’s recent performance, though, gives a beacon of hope that the club might not be too far off from returning to where it once was in its glory days.
“We’ve been so thrilled at her success,” said Kirsten Aylward, president of the club. “She has set such a good example for everybody, the folks coming behind her [for] what you can achieve when you work hard and you’re so dedicated to your sport.”
Prior to joining the club, Kriegel and her family were based in Milwaukee, Wisc. It was there where she found her love for rowing. She started off in sweep rowing and enjoyed the team aspect of competing in that setting. When she moved to Augusta almost two years ago, she began making the transition to sculling.
To do so, she began coming into the Boathouse early in the mornings and late at night to get extra work in on the rowing machine. Kriegel made sure to spend ample time on the water as well getting live reps in.
“It’s very difficult in any sport,” Kevin Kriegel, Colette’s dad, said. “But when you’re kind of on your own, isolated a little bit [and] you’re doing things every day, I think it speaks a lot about her character and who she was.”
While Kriegel did spend a lot of time on her own working on her craft, she credits much of her development in such a short time frame to Hartmut Buschbacher, a world renowned rowing coach who’s coached olympians who took time out to train her. His tutelage not only was a main factor in her placing so highly in the national competition, but it also helped her earn a scholarship to Harvard to row collegiately.
In just a few months, Kriegel will be joining that squad with hopes of making a good impression early. As a freshman, she wants to be in the top boat, rowing with the top rowers on the team. It may seem like a lofty goal, but so did being top five in a national competition. If Kriegel learned anything from that race, it was that she truly can do anything she sets her mind to.
“I learned that my body can always do more than what I’m telling it can,” Kriegel said. “I can do more than I’m expecting if I just believe in myself.”
This article originally appeared on Augusta Chronicle: Colette Kriegel earns top five finish in national rowing competition
