Duke University Women's Rowing

Duke University Vice President and Director of Athletics Nina King announced Adrian Spracklen as the head coach of the rowing program in July 2024. Spracklen...

Carly Abarbanel was named an assistant coach on September 4,2023 and enters her first season with the Blue Devils. Abarbanel joins the program after a three-year stint at Bates College as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator for the women's rowing team. She has also spent time working with the men's program as well. Abarbanel, a native of Springfield, Mass., helped continue the success of both the men's and women's rowing programs. Under her guidance, the Bates women's rowing team made its 16th consecutive appearance at the NCAA Division III Rowing Championships in 2023 and finished fourth in the team standings with 41 points. The Second Varsity Eight crew collected their ninth straight gold medal at the championship regatta, clocking a time of 7:10.463. The Bobcats also secured their 10th consecutive President's Cup after winning nine of 10 races over Colby, Bowdoin and the University of Maine. Her coaching and leadership led to the development of many Bates student-athletes, including four first-team Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association (CRCA) All-Americans. In June, Abarbanel and the Bates coaching staff were named the Intercollegiate Rowing Coaches Association (IRCA) Division III Staff of the Year. Under their leadership, the Bobcats finished third in the team standings at the 2023 IRA National Championships and the Varsity Eight brought home a bronze medal, the first medal in the men's program history. Prior to her time at Bates, Abarbanel served as the head co

Former Duke football captain Dave Harding joined the Blue Devil staff in July, 2014 and serves as the Executive Director of Blue Devil Network, overseeing al...

Emilie Gross completed her first season as director of operations for the Duke rowing program in 2022 after joining Megan Cooke Carcagno’s staff in September...

Kerrin Meseck joined the Duke Athletics staff in July of 2021 and serves as the Assistant Director of Sports Nutrition. In her role, she primarily works with...

Nicole Shattuck joined the Duke Sports Performance staff in Fall 2021 and currently serves as the Sports Performance Coach for the women's lacrosse and rowin...

Vishal Nair joined the Duke Athletics Creative Services team in September 2023 as Assistant Director of Graphic Design. His primary responsibilities include designing graphics tailored for Duke Athletics' official social media platforms, in alignment with the department's social media strategy. He also produces marketing materials, including sport posters, email newsletters and print and digital advertisements, as well as manages social media content creation for the Duke rowing program. Before joining Duke, Nair served as a freelance designer with the Carolina Panthers, where he created dynamic social media graphics for the 2023 NFL Draft, as well as holiday graphics and announcements graphics. In addition to his freelance work, Nair was also the graphic designer for Charlotte women's basketball, creating engaging content such as recruitment graphics, game-related statistics, player profiles and wall graphics. Nair graduated from Charlotte in May 2022 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Graphic Design.

Yuji Katsuta joined Duke's Athletic Medicine Department in June of 2018 and currently serves as an Associate Athletic Trainer for the rowing team. Katsuta graduated from California State University, Fresno with a degree in Kinesiology in 2005, and would go on to obtain both a Master's degree in Exercise Science from the University of Mississippi in 2007 and a Master's degree in Sport Management from the University of Southern Mississippi in 2017. He also graduated from a Massage Therapy Program at Durham Technical Community College in 2021. Katsuta currently resides in Durham with his dog, Happi Dawg.