Whether it’s serving as the coxswain in the boat or providing support to her teammates out of the boat, fourth-year Ellie McGee always remains a vocal leader for the University of Rhode Island women’s rowing team.
Throughout her tenure in Kingston, McGee has been part of two teams who have won the Atlantic 10 Championship and has raced in two NCAA Championships.
Growing up in Barrington, Rhode Island, McGe e said her aff ection for the sport of rowing started back in eighth grade when she followed in her older sister’s footsteps by joining the East Bay Rowing Team. McGee originally struggled to find her place within the team, however once she was approached by her coach with the idea of becoming a coxswain, everything changed.
“I wasn’t the typical tall, strong, rowing stature and my times weren’t very good,” McGee said. “My freshman year of high school through my senior year, I was a coxswain on the team and basically fell in love with it immediately.”
During the heart of the COVID-19 Pandemic, McGee was unable to take any on-campus visits when deciding where she wanted to continue her rowing career. Growing up locally, she had always considered URI to be an option, and after a phone call with head coach Shelagh Donohoe, McGee was immediately drawn to the culture being built within the Rhody program.
“When I talked to Shelagh, it was a completely different atmosphere,” McGee said. “I really just loved her coaching mindset and it was an all-women’s coaching staff, which I had never heard of.”
McGee was entrusted with being the coxswain during some of the most crucial races throughout her first season in 2022. Most notably, she coxed both the Varsity 8+ boat that clinched the A-10 Team Title and the Varsity 8+ boat that placed 21st at the NCAA Rowing Championship.
“The thing with coxing is that you need to be able to feel the boat and know what to say to the rowers and that’s something that came pretty natural to Ellie,” Donohoe said. “From freshman year, her tone, her aggressiveness, but yet her positiveness, really just shined through.”
Being vocal during every race comes with the territory of being a coxswain, as they are responsible for leading and directing the crew. Along with this responsibility on the water, McGee has made it a goal of hers to bring this same outspokenness and support to her teammates off the water.
Because of this leadership, McGee was voted by the team to become a captain following her sophomore season. Now, in her second year as a captain, she has become more comfortable within this role and continues to focus on building the future of the team.
“All through last year, I was among really great captains that helped to pass along the torch so that when they left this past year, I felt very confident to step into this role,” McGee said. “It’s been really fun this year to see the next group of sophomores, juniors and even freshman that have already shown me the inkling to have that leadership role.”
McGee has not only built relationships with teammates throughout her four years, but also with the coaching staff. Coxswains are often thought of as de facto coaches on the boat, and McGee has embraced this role to help create effective communication between coaches and the rowers.
“Ellie has been working with us for four years, I don’t even have to say a lot of things and she knows what to do,” Donohoe said. “Whatever boat she is coxing, she’s able to adjust her skillset to match that crew.”
Rhode Island wrapped up its fall season at the Foot of the Charles on Nov. 9, and McGee knows that the work must continue as the team looks ahead to the spring slate.
“Within the captains, we’re really trying to express the fact that this team has so much potential,” McGee said. “We’ve just won our tenth A-10 championship so obviously we’re trying to continue that legacy, and I’d like to leave here with a third ring on my ring finger.”
McGee and the rest of the rowing team head into the off-season with their sights set on winning their third A-10 title in the span of four years and returning to the NCAA Championships.