Three years ago, Jake Yeager (B.S.Ed. ’27) started rowing his freshman year at the University of Georgia to meet new people and get involved on campus.
Now, the summer before his senior year, Yeager will get the chance to compete on the international stage as part of the United States national team at the World University Rowing Championship.
“It’s interesting with rowing, because that’s one of the few sports where you can start a lot later in life,” said Yeager, a fourth-year student in the Mary Frances Early College of Education. “Not that I’m old now by any means, but I feel like it’s rare to be able to start a sport in college and progress really quickly and make it to some higher levels, so it’s kind of unique in that way.”
Hosted by the International University Sports Federation (FISU), the World University Rowing Championship brings together rowers from around the world to compete. As of April, 28 countries expressed interest in competing in the 2026 championship, which will be held in North America for the first time this year.
Yeager is majoring in exercise and sport science and is on the pre-physical therapy track in the Department of Kinesiology. A member of UGA Rowing since 2023, he started thinking about competing internationally this year and looking into opportunities to develop his skills. Now, he will be the first person from the club to compete at the international level.
“I believe Jake’s invitation to pursue collegiate rowing excellence on an international scale says a lot about both who Jake is and about the current state of the University of Georgia’s club rowing program. Jake is a tremendously gifted athlete, but also someone whose internal motivation and grit has cultivated those gifts into something remarkable,” said Nathan Lantz, head coach of the UGA Rowing Club and a doctoral student in biochemistry and molecular biology.
UGA Rowing competes at the club level and recently won gold for the Men’s 4x event at the American Collegiate Rowing Association National Championship Regatta in May. Competitions like the World University Championship provide a forum for club athletes like Yeager to compete at a higher level.
“I am equally proud of the University of Georgia Rowing Club’s student leadership and membership, which have pushed the program to be the type of developmental environment capable of supporting really high-caliber athletes like Jake, despite a relative lack of training resources compared to top programs across the country,” Lantz said. “Go Dawgs and Go USA!”
While a typical summer includes weightlifting and using the rowing machine to stay active between seasons, Yeager is stepping up his conditioning this summer to prepare for the competition. Lantz introduced him to the head coach of the University of Michigan’s rowing team, and in July, Yeager will start training there with other collegiate club rowers from across the country in preparation for the competition.
Beyond competing at a higher level in a different environment, Yeager is looking ahead toward another goal—competing on the U.S. national team in the Under 23 Championship next summer after graduating from UGA.
“That would be a pretty big deal to do that if that ends up happening,” Yeager said. “But this World University Championship, I’d say it’s like a steppingstone to get to that next summer.”
The 2026 FISU World University Rowing Championship will be held August 13-15 in London, Ontario, Canada.