Simon Carcagno

Simon Carcagno begins his third year as a member of the Duke rowing staff. During the 2015-16 campaign, Carcagno served as the program’s boathouse manager until taking over as a volunteer assistant coach for the last two years.

The 2016-17 season had Duke ranked within the top 20 for the entire season and pushed its streak to 13 consecutive weeks being a nationally ranked program, the longest run in Blue Devil history. The squad finished fourth at the ACC Championship and won the Carolina Cup title.

During Carcagno’s first year with the Blue Devils, Duke qualified for its first NCAA Championships appearance, as well as earning a second-place finish at the ACC Championship. The Duke coaching staff received Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association National and Region 3 Staff of the Year accolades.

Carcagno came to Durham after seven years at the University of Wisconsin. He joined the UW coaching staff full time for the start of the 2009-10 season after spending one year as a volunteer assistant coach. Prior to his departure, Carcagno was an associate head coach for the men’s program.

He became part of the Wisconsin men's rowing coaching staff after years of experience as a collegiate and high school rowing coach, as well as personal experience as a member of the U.S. national team and as a Princeton University student-athlete.

Carcagno graduated from Princeton with an A.B. (Artium Baccalaureatus) in Public Policy from the Woodrow Wilson School in 1998 following four years on the men’s rowing team. After walking on the team his freshman year, Carcagno co-captained the undefeated national champion varsity eight as a senior and was awarded the Bayard W. Read Class of 1926 Award for most improved athlete over four years. Upon graduation, Carcagno served as a volunteer coach at his alma mater for the next year.

In 2002, the Princeton standout accepted a position as coach at the Mercer Junior Rowing Club in West Windsor, N.J. Over the course of five years, Carcagno assisted in conditioning high school athletes for national team programs as well as priming them for success in collegiate programs.

Carcagno also spent seven years (2002-08) in elite training as a member of the U.S. national team. He represented the U.S. as an alternate on two Olympic teams, one Pan-Am team and seven senior national teams. Carcagno’s accomplishments on the national team include winning the world championships in the lightweight eight in 2008, capturing the silver medal at the Pan American Games lightweight four in 2007, placing third in the lightweight pair in 2003, and taking second in the lightweight pair at the Munich and Lucerne world cups in 2004. Carcagno was also part of the duo that was the first-ever U.S. finalist in the lightweight pair at the World Championships in 2002. Through his experience racing and training internationally, Carcagno gained a solid understanding of how to move boats effectively and how to race to win.

Following his involvement in international racing, Carcagno went to Wisconsin to assist the men's program in 2009. As the assistant varsity coach, he worked closely with the Eastern Sprints-winning third varsity eight and the Intercollegiate Rowing Association runner-up open four squads.

As a result of his success, he was quickly promoted to freshman coach, where he went on to win multiple medals at the Eastern Sprints, including a silver medal in the men's freshman eight in 2015.