Announcing the IRCA Hall of Fame and the inaugural Class of 2023 honorees

When the IRCA was formed in 2020, two of the top tasks on our very long to-do list was finding a way to honor our coaches and our athletes. At the end of a very challenging 2020-2021 academic year, we were able to shine a light, for the first time in men’s rowing history, on a very deserving group of Scholar-Athletes, All Americans, and Coaches/Staffs of the Year. Two years later, we’re excited to build on this tradition and celebrate another group, without whom our sport would not be where it is today.

On December 9th, 2023 the IRCA was proud to induct four coaching legends into the newly established Men’s Varsity Collegiate Rowing Hall of Fame. This year’s inaugural class includes three “historical” coaches and one “modern” coach - Charles “Pop” Courtney (Cornell), Carroll “Ky” Ebright (Cal-Berkeley), Al Ulbrickson (Washington), and Steve Gladstone (Yale).

Inducting these coaches into the Hall of Fame is not just about recognizing their successes on the water, but also the impact they had as educators, mentors, and stewards of the sport. Given that, it seemed only fitting that our “modern” coach was none other than Steve Gladstone. “Retirement” for Steve meant transitioning from being the head coach of Yale’s heavyweight program to being an assistant coach on newly promoted head coach Mike Gennaro’s staff. Over the course of his 50 year career, Steve has made substantial contributions to the growth of the sport and set the example for what it means to be a leader inside and outside of the boathouse.

Thanks to the following people for their support and work in getting the Hall of Fame off the ground:

Rob Friedrich, for creating the framework that will guide how HOF honorees are selected and for the Herculean task of researching and narrowing down the decades-long list of coaches to be honored

Paul Bugenhagen, for being the master of ceremonies tasked with officially inducting this year’s class, which he did with his characteristic grace and phenomenal story telling

Peter Steenstra, for hosting our HOF ceremony at the first annual “Conference for Rowing Coaches”, which was held on Dec. 8th-10th in Saratoga Springs, NY