Five Cardinal Named All-American

STANFORD, Calif. – Five Cardinal women's rowers have been named 2022 Pocock Racing Shells All-America Athletes, the College Rowing Coaches Association (CRCA) announced Thursday.

Rowers Esther Briz Zamorano, Azja Czajkowski, Katelin Gildersleeve, and Caroline Ricksen each earned first-team honors. Fifth-year Kaitlyn Kynast was honored with second-team accolades. 

Stanford had five rowers recognized as All-America honorees for the fifth-straight year and four-or-more awardees on the first team for just the third time in program history. 

With Thursday's announcement, Kynast became a four-time All-America honoree, a feat most recently achieved by Meg Saunders in 2021. Briz Zamorano is now a two-time All-American, while Czajkowski, Gildersleeve, and Ricksen were all lauded for the first time.

The Cardinal finished as the runner-up at the 2022 NCAA Championships for the second consecutive season in May after capturing a fourth-place finish in the Varsity Four and silver-medal finishes in both the Varsity and Second Varsity Eight grand finals. 

All five All-America selections rowed as part of Stanford's varsity eight. Briz Zamorano,  Czajkowski, Gildersleeve, and Ricksen had previously received All-Pac-12 first-team honors. Czajkowski was the conference's athlete of the year, the team's first since 2008. Gildersleeve, Czajkowski, and Ricksen also earned selections to the USRowing Under-23 National Team for the upcoming 2022 World Rowing Under 23 Championships, held July 25-30 in Varese, Italy.

To meet the criteria for Pocock All-America selection, a student-athlete must meet all eligibility rules as defined by her institution while having rowed in at least 75 percent of the season's races in the varsity boat. Boat performance, nomination rank, coach's comments, individual achievements, and 2,000-meter erg scores are also considered.