Blue Tornado Rowing

With more than 30 years of rowing history at The McCallie School, the sport is steeped in tradition. McCallie oarsmen learn more than just strokes on the water. Rowers learn much about themselves as athletes and as individuals. 

Sean McCourt was named head coach of McCallie Rowing in 2012. Since then, McCallie has won medals at races such as the Scholastic Rowing Association of America National Championships, the National Schools Championship, the U.S. Rowing Southeast Regional Championship, and the Mid-South Scholastic Championship, as well as other cup and head races.

In May 2022, the Blue Tornado Junior 8 boat raced to a national title at the SRAA Prep Nationals. In the spring of 2024, McCallie’s Varsity 8 retained the Raoul Cup, the annual race with Baylor, and also claimed the State title. The Junior 8, Freshmen 8 and Varsity 8 all qualified for the Scholastic Nationals in May. The Freshmen 8 boat placed sixth, and the Junior 8 advanced to the semifinals. Seniors Grey Richmond and John Testerman will continue to row at the University of Wisconsin and Syracuse University respectively.

Many of the oarsmen the program has produced have continued to row after McCallie and have attended some of the most prestigious schools in the country. McCallie rowing alums have rowed at Boston University, Cambridge, Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth, Georgetown, Georgia Tech, Harvard, Hobart, MIT, Oxford, Penn, Princeton, Syracuse, the U.S. Naval Academy, Virginia, Yale, and Wisconsin among others. Rowers have also participated in the Oxford-Cambridge Boat Race, the Junior World Championships, the Under-23 World Championship, and the Senior World Championship.