- June 10, 2026
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It was time for Lakewood Ranch High student Madison McKay to tell her parents, Scott and Shelly McKay, about the idea which had been brewing in her mind. She felt change was necessary in her rowing career.
The then-rising junior believed her longtime club, Manatee County Youth Rowing, was no longer the right environment in which to pursue her goals.
McKay sat down with her parents before the 2024-25 season and voiced her interest in joining Sarasota Crew to finish out her high school rowing days.
“I wanted to get recruited. I felt stuck on the team that I was on,” McKay said. “We didn't get into bigger boats, which is all they do in college.”
Over the past two years, she’s proved to her parents — and herself — that was the right move to make.
From June 11-14, McKay will represent Sarasota Crew one last time in the Youth Women’s Eight of the USRowing Youth National Championships, held at Nathan Benderson Park. The Lakewood Ranch High graduate will row for Jacksonville University in the fall.
Her boat is one of 16 entries for the Osprey-based club, which is tied for second-most among the 236 different clubs converging on the park. Maritime Rowing Club of Connecticut also boasts 16, while RowAmerica Rye of New York leads with 21.
Two years removed from her decision to leave her former team, McKay — and the eight other girls in her boat — will vie for a junior national title.
“We feel good, actually,” McKay said. “It took us a long time to get to where we are, but I'm grateful for it.”
Their boat also features Riverview rising senior Olivia Mulliner, Pine View graduate Gabi DeLeo, homeschooled graduate Eliana Fanders, Sarasota graduate Sydney Dalton, Venice graduate Anna Raney, Pine View rising junior Sydney Soboleski, Pine View graduate Sofia Yu and Pine View rising senior coxswain Kaylie Dominguez.
At the USRowing Southeast Youth Championships from May 9-10, they placed fourth in 6:44.41, and were on the brink of failing to qualify for the national championships. But now they have another shot to prove they rank among the nation's best. McKay said her teammates have a renewed focus as they head into the national championships.
She was in the fourth seat last fall when this season got underway. In February, though, she was moved to the stroke seat — eighth — and has maintained her position.
McKay is responsible for the technique and rhythm of the entire boat. The coxswain is the only person in front of her, but she can feel all the movement behind her.
“It is a difficult and arduous position to be in,” said Sebastian Spivey, the lead girls coach for Sarasota Crew. “You're the one who feels every resistance, every mistake that the crew will make, and it’s just a heavier burden sitting up there and not having to follow anybody. You're the one who has to take the plunge head-first.”
Before contending for a junior national title or committing to a NCAA Division I program, she had to learn what it meant to be a rower.
The sport didn’t run in her family. Neither of her parents had experienced it themselves, so unlike many others, she didn’t grow up on the water with an oar in her hands.
It was the constant advice of McKay’s middle-school friends who pushed her into rowing in seventh grade. At first, she questioned why she had even listened to them.
“They were like, ‘Oh, just come try it. It's fun, we promise,’” McKay said. “I tried it, and the first day I was there, there was a 2K erg test. You win some, you lose some.”
That was merely a sample of what the following weeks would entail. As she continued with Manatee County Youth Rowing, she grappled with the physically demanding nature of the sport.
There were a couple instances, McKay said, when she wanted to quit as she first got into rowing. Her parents advised against that and encouraged her to stick with it.
She stuck it out, indeed.
Sarasota Crew eventually attracted her attention. In virtually every regatta, there would be athletes from the club racing against her, and they won — a lot. McKay wanted to become part of it.
“She came in as the underdog, and had to do a lot of adapting in some ways,” Spivey said. “When you’re with a new team, new style, new culture, it's almost like starting over.”
Adapting to the club’s size was a challenge. Her prior rowing experience was a team that was founded in 2011 and supported over 60 athletes, per its website.
Manatee County Youth Rowing won’t have any athletes at Nathan Benderson Park for the national championships. Sarasota Crew, founded in 2002, will have 103.
“Coming from a small team, I (was used to having) more responsibility on my shoulders,” McKay said. “When I came here, I felt small in a big group of people, because there’s so many people on the team. It definitely took me a while to find my footing.”
The past two years have allowed her to get comfortable in that group. She’s spent hours upon hours alongside other rowers, whether practicing or competing.
Becoming part of the Youth Women’s Eight — the Sarasota Crew’s top female boat — taught her what’s necessary for team success.
“I used to just try to make myself better,” McKay said. “That's still important, obviously, but I started showing up not just for myself, but for other people.”
Joining Sarasota Crew made her more visible to college recruiters, eventually leading her to Jacksonville University. Now, that decision has her in junior national title contention.
A change of clubs changed the trajectory of her rowing career.
