Letter From the Team President

Shrayes Upadhyayula '26

Last year capped off the final year of our post-COVID rebuilding cycle which saw GT Crew return to form, earning a silver medal in the Women's 8+ at SIRA and a gold medal in the Men's LWT 4+ at ACRA. Seeing these accomplishments paired with the program being 5 8+'s deep on both the men's and women's side was truly remarkable and a testament to the enriching experience this team provides its students. Now, the bar for program success has been raised and our women's and men's head coaches, Beth Thomas and Tim Pierce, will continue to push the competitive and determined culture of the team. 

One of our big goals for the fall is to improve our program ranking at Head of the Hooch. To accomplish this, we need to keep building from the bottom up and raising the floor of our lower boats to push our V8+'s. That starts with our novice program, who return with a revamped staff after a phenomenal 2024–2025 campaign. Last fall, our novice men's 4+ of brand-new rowers swept their fall racing schedule, and our novice women became ranked in the Spring ACRA polls.

After graduating a large crop of seniors, both varsity squads run younger than they have in the past, but we hope that the freshman talent and superb novice class we've gained will supercharge our growth. However, we all carry the vision that the real purpose of our fall racing is to build fitness and advance our performance at the 2026 ACRA National Championships.

Regarding our equipment, the team has completed Year 1 of its 5-year plan and has bought and received a beautifully maintained 2018 Hudson from Stanford University. With Resolute Racing essentially defunct, Resolute parts have become hard to come by, and maintenance continues to grow more expensive year over year. The team will continue to replace our aging fleet according to the 5-year plan and projects to buy a used Hudson 8+ for the men's team next year by utilizing our disbursement from the GTCA endowment.

By the end of this fall, after two 8+'s, the Los Lobos and The Ratio, are returned from Tim Searles at the Rowing Repair Center, we expect to have 12 working 8+'s for the team and 3 per squad. This will significantly reduce shell sharing across squads and lengthen our boats' lifespans. We're concurrently working on a project to strip the blue trailer and replace our small boats shed in the time being to avoid any further damage to our equipment.

I want to thank all the friends of GT Crew whose contributions have made these projects possible. Your support continues to allow the team to train hard and perform at a high level against collegiate rowing programs nationwide. If you'd like to find out more about how to support the program or about the impact of your contribution, feel free to shoot me an email at president@gtcrew.com, or contribute to the GTCA endowment by following the directions at the end of this newsletter.

Coaching updates

We are excited to introduce the 2025 Fall Coaching Staff!

Lauren Sabo ‘25 and Alli King ‘26  join Mandy Davis ‘18  this year to form the Novice Women’s coaching staff.  Alli came to us in 2022 after 4 years from Williamsburg Boat Club and has rowed and coxed for multiple squads at Georgia Tech, most recently coxing the Varsity Men’s 8+ at ACRA. Alli will be continuing her studies at tech while she begins coaching. 

Lauren brings a wealth of coxing pedigree to the staff having most recently coxed the ACRA National Champion GT Men’s Lightweight 4+. Having graduated, Lauren will begin Graduate School at GT this semester!

Combined they bring a depth of different experiences rowing and coxing and we expect them to continue to raise our competitive floor. Their time as student-athletes on the team will help them establish a competitive culture early while mentoring new rowers on how to balance academics and rowing. 

Men's Head Coach Tim Pierce had this to say about Lauren: 

"She has always built up those around her, made people fall in love with this sport, and as a coxswain, pushed rowers to be their best. I know she will bring this same attitude to the Novice Women and I am excited for her to find success with her new squad."

Women's Head Coach Beth Thomas had this to say about Alli: 

"Alli brings a level of intensity and strategic-thinking balanced with a level of compassion for the sport and the team that will easily translate into speed and dedication on the novice women's squad and the team as a whole."

Karthik Krishnan '25 joins Timothy Pierce '21 to form the Varsity Men's coaching staff. Karthik began rowing in Fall of 2021 and became an integral part of the program as a technical staple of the V8+ and as President in 2023. Karthik will be spending the next 2 years in Atlanta completing his Masters in Bioinformatics and wanted to coach to give back to the program.

Men's Head Coach Tim Pierce has this to say about Karthik: 

"He is very knowledgable about the stroke and he’s always been a positive force for the culture of the Varsity Men, and a model teammate. I can’t wait to see how he continues to make an impact as he transitions from a rower to a coach."

Departing Staff

This isn’t goodbye — just a new beginning as we wish Alec Kaye ‘16 and Gayatri Menon ‘23 all the best in their futures!  Thank you for the countless hours on the Hooch that you have dedicated to our program from the first day you set foot into the boathouse as a student-athlete to today as alumni coaches. 

Upcoming events

Donate To the endowment

Support from you is crucial to ensuring that our rowing program can compete and succeed at the highest level.  Here are a few examples of what your giving provides for our student-athletes:

• $100 - 1 uniform

• $400 - 1 oar

• $800 - 1 coxbox 

• $12,000 - Cost of Team ACRA Championship or Head of the Charles Trip

• $25,000 - 1 four

• $50,000 - 1 eight

Ways to Give

Credit Card/Debit Card/Bank Transfer/Venmo/PayPal/Crypto

Here, you can set up a one-time or monthly donation to the endowment. Donating through here is tax-deductible, and you will receive a receipt upon completion. In the designation field, select Make a Special Gift to Georgia Tech, then type Crew Endowment.

Check

Please make the check out to Georgia Tech Foundation with a note in the memo line saying the gift is to support GT Crew Endowment and mail it via Postal Service or FedEx to 760 Spring Street, NW Suite 400 Atlanta, GA 30308. Donating through here is tax-deductible, and you will receive a receipt from GT foundation upon completion.

Appreciated Securities 

When you donate securities to the Georgia Tech Crew Endowment, you receive the same income tax savings that you would if you wrote a check, but with the added benefit of eliminating capital gains taxes on the transfer, which can be as high as 20%. You can calculate your potential benefits here. 

Oftentimes, alumni set up Donor Advisory Funds (DAFs) to contribute appreciated stock to the team. To learn more about how to set one up, please contact the GT Crew Endowment Committee at endowment@gtcrewalumni.org 

If you'd like to proceed, here are your next steps. 

1. Contact Gift Planning at 404.894.4678 or giftplanning@dev.gatech.edu for additional information on appreciated securities. Please mention your intention for your gift to be direct to the GT Crew endowment and cc endowment@gtcrewalumni.org.

2. Seek the advice of your tax or legal advisor.

If you include the Georgia Tech Crew Endowment in your plans, please use the following legal name and federal tax ID.

Legal name: Georgia Tech Foundation, Inc.
    Address: 760 Spring Street NW, Suite 400, Atlanta, GA 30308
    Federal tax ID number: 58-6043294

Corporate Matching

Find out if your company will match your gift here!

If you would like to set up a meeting to learn more about how your contribution can impact the team, please reach out to endowment@gtcrewalumni.org!

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