Princeton University Athletics

Laoise O'Donohue '26: One Part Of A Rowing Family

May 28, 2026 | Women's Rowing - Open

Every year, Laoise O'Donohue's family attended the Henley Royal Regatta.

"I remember when I was very young, always going to that," said O'Donohue. "It was always a really special weekend."

That's quite the first memory of rowing.

The senior who just graduated from Princeton this week as a SPIA major is from a rowing family. Her mother, Kate Holroyd, rowed at the 1984 Olympics on Lake Casitas and finished fifth in the women's eight for Great Britain. Her grandfather also rowed in the UK in the 1950s and of course attended the Henley Royal Regatta every year.

"The Henley Royal Regatta has always been a highlight of the year and since we live close by, we would always visit with our girls," said Holroyd. "It is such a unique rowing event, and we particularly enjoy reconnecting with old rowing friends, as well as, of course watching some of the best crews in the world race each other."

Holroyd won a few medals in the women's quadruple sculls event at Henley in addition to two more medals in the Commonwealth Games.

O'Donohue started rowing when she was 13 years old in a summer camp. "I remember thinking this was fine, I guess," said the future First-Team All-Ivy selection. "I continued it and got a little more serious when I was 15. My older sister rowed and I always had rowing around me, so I had to give it a try."

The Princeton graduate ran cross country, played tennis and swam before realizing rowing would consume a lot of her time. "I really loved swimming and wanted to be an Olympic swimmer," said O'Donohue about her other passions. "I've always been drawn to endurance sports, the type where you feel horrible when you're doing it but after you feel amazing with a sense of accomplishment."

O'Donohue rowed at the Henley Rowing Club where she was taught by a familiar face:

Mom.

"I encouraged all three of my daughters to row, but Laoise was the one who got hooked," said Holroyd. "When the girls started rowing, I wasn't coaching at the time but quickly found myself drawn into wanting to help. The club where they rowed had no paid coaching staff, just volunteers and parents. Of course, I was keen to help, and it was great to have a shared interest with Laoise."

From the outside, one may think having an Olympic rower as your mother could prove to be tough when learning about the sport of rowing, but Laoise said any conversation after a race, win or lose, came from a place of mom to daughter.

"The nice thing with my mother is she understands what it is like to lose and how hard rowing is," said O'Donohue. "She knew what to say in those situations or she knew to say nothing at all. She also knows what it takes to win, so any time I won a race, she understood what went into it."

"Laoise and I do talk a lot about training and racing, so I hope I provided a helpful perspective, said Holroyd. "In her Princeton preseason training at Henley, I have loved getting back on my coaching bike and accompanying her single sculling training sessions."

In 2019, when she was just 15 years old, O'Donohue rowed in the eight for the Great Britain Junior National Team in the annual GB vs. France junior races. The eight won its race and Great Britain won 10 of the 14 events that day. "That was the first time I realized I could accomplish big things in rowing," said the four-time Ivy medalist about the event.

When it came time for the college recruiting process in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic, O'Donohue didn't really know what to do. Her friend who went to Michigan gave her a list of 25 schools and told her to pick 10 of the ones that she thought would be the best fit.

"I knew nothing," said O'Donohue. "I would jump on these zoom calls and be like here's my best 2K time."

O'Donohue was really interested in UCLA and who wouldn't be with the beautiful West Coast weather?

The eventual senior captain realized she wanted to row at the highest level and was down to Yale or Princeton.

"(Head coach) Lori (Dauphiny) and Bill Manning (the recruiting coordinator for Princeton at the time) were enthusiastic on these calls," said O'Donohue. "I really felt welcomed at Princeton from the first call and that really helped my decision."

During her freshman campaign, O'Donohue rowed on the 3V and eventually led that boat to a gold medal at the Ivy League Rowing Championships.

"Freshman year was tough for me," said O'Donohue. "I was with the lowest group of rowers on the team and had always been used to being the best rower on my team. I remember going out on the boats and thinking, was I ever going to improve here, because it felt like a slog at times."

Winning gold at Ivies made the England native more committed to the program and she wanted to row in the higher boats.

That she did.

In her sophomore year, O'Donohue was on the varsity four that went undefeated during the regular season. That boat eventually won gold at Ivies and corralled silver at the NCAAs Rowing Championship.

She moved up to the 2V during her junior season, picking up a silver at Ivies and bronze at NCAAs.

This season, O'Donohue has spent most of her time in the 1V and helped the boat to gold at Ivies last Sunday.

That's four Ivy medals in four different boats with a chance at a third NCAA medal this weekend.

How did she do it?

It starts with a quote from her mother about working hard and not falling back on talent.

So O'Donohue locked in.

"I really focused on my training," said the senior captain. "I was out in a single every day in the summer and tried to put myself in the best position for the next season."

"I have loved seeing Laoise grow as an athlete and rower," said Holroyd. "Technically and physically, she has improved enormously at Princeton. One of her strongest attributes is her resilience and she is an incredible racer."

O'Donohue, who will earn a third CRCA Scholar Athlete honor this summer, liked the balance of the academics and rowing piece at Princeton.

"I've always liked having two things that I'm working on at the same time," said O'Donohue. "You never get too mentally drained from each one. If I'm tired of studying, I can go work out and feel fresh again. Also, I'm not dwelling on a bad practice because I have to go work on academic things, which was really nice."

After commencement on Tuesday, the team will fly down Wednesday to Georgia before practice on Thursday. Racing starts Friday with heats before semifinals on Saturday and Finals on Sunday.

Since 2010, the first varsity has secured top 10 finishes at NCAAs all but twice while the team has placed in the top 10 10 times in the 13 NCAA regattas.

This NCAA regatta will provide one more opportunity for the rowing family that O'Donohue grew up in to see her in a Princeton uniform.

"I've looked up to my mother ever since I've started rowing," said O'Donohue. "I never knew how much that would have taken until I started. She rowed at a time when women's rowing was not respected. They only rowed 1K instead of 2K, they didn't have the proper uniforms nor the funding. I feel so lucky to be at Princeton, be able to train in the boathouse and be given everything I need to achieve."

"I remember when I was very young, always going to that," said O'Donohue. "It was always a really special weekend."

That's quite the first memory of rowing.

The senior who just graduated from Princeton this week as a SPIA major is from a rowing family. Her mother, Kate Holroyd, rowed at the 1984 Olympics on Lake Casitas and finished fifth in the women's eight for Great Britain. Her grandfather also rowed in the UK in the 1950s and of course attended the Henley Royal Regatta every year.

"The Henley Royal Regatta has always been a highlight of the year and since we live close by, we would always visit with our girls," said Holroyd. "It is such a unique rowing event, and we particularly enjoy reconnecting with old rowing friends, as well as, of course watching some of the best crews in the world race each other."

Holroyd won a few medals in the women's quadruple sculls event at Henley in addition to two more medals in the Commonwealth Games.

O'Donohue started rowing when she was 13 years old in a summer camp. "I remember thinking this was fine, I guess," said the future First-Team All-Ivy selection. "I continued it and got a little more serious when I was 15. My older sister rowed and I always had rowing around me, so I had to give it a try."

The Princeton graduate ran cross country, played tennis and swam before realizing rowing would consume a lot of her time. "I really loved swimming and wanted to be an Olympic swimmer," said O'Donohue about her other passions. "I've always been drawn to endurance sports, the type where you feel horrible when you're doing it but after you feel amazing with a sense of accomplishment."

O'Donohue rowed at the Henley Rowing Club where she was taught by a familiar face:

Mom.

"I encouraged all three of my daughters to row, but Laoise was the one who got hooked," said Holroyd. "When the girls started rowing, I wasn't coaching at the time but quickly found myself drawn into wanting to help. The club where they rowed had no paid coaching staff, just volunteers and parents. Of course, I was keen to help, and it was great to have a shared interest with Laoise."

From the outside, one may think having an Olympic rower as your mother could prove to be tough when learning about the sport of rowing, but Laoise said any conversation after a race, win or lose, came from a place of mom to daughter.

"The nice thing with my mother is she understands what it is like to lose and how hard rowing is," said O'Donohue. "She knew what to say in those situations or she knew to say nothing at all. She also knows what it takes to win, so any time I won a race, she understood what went into it."

"Laoise and I do talk a lot about training and racing, so I hope I provided a helpful perspective, said Holroyd. "In her Princeton preseason training at Henley, I have loved getting back on my coaching bike and accompanying her single sculling training sessions."

In 2019, when she was just 15 years old, O'Donohue rowed in the eight for the Great Britain Junior National Team in the annual GB vs. France junior races. The eight won its race and Great Britain won 10 of the 14 events that day. "That was the first time I realized I could accomplish big things in rowing," said the four-time Ivy medalist about the event.

When it came time for the college recruiting process in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic, O'Donohue didn't really know what to do. Her friend who went to Michigan gave her a list of 25 schools and told her to pick 10 of the ones that she thought would be the best fit.

"I knew nothing," said O'Donohue. "I would jump on these zoom calls and be like here's my best 2K time."

O'Donohue was really interested in UCLA and who wouldn't be with the beautiful West Coast weather?

The eventual senior captain realized she wanted to row at the highest level and was down to Yale or Princeton.

"(Head coach) Lori (Dauphiny) and Bill Manning (the recruiting coordinator for Princeton at the time) were enthusiastic on these calls," said O'Donohue. "I really felt welcomed at Princeton from the first call and that really helped my decision."

During her freshman campaign, O'Donohue rowed on the 3V and eventually led that boat to a gold medal at the Ivy League Rowing Championships.

"Freshman year was tough for me," said O'Donohue. "I was with the lowest group of rowers on the team and had always been used to being the best rower on my team. I remember going out on the boats and thinking, was I ever going to improve here, because it felt like a slog at times."

Winning gold at Ivies made the England native more committed to the program and she wanted to row in the higher boats.

That she did.

In her sophomore year, O'Donohue was on the varsity four that went undefeated during the regular season. That boat eventually won gold at Ivies and corralled silver at the NCAAs Rowing Championship.

She moved up to the 2V during her junior season, picking up a silver at Ivies and bronze at NCAAs.

This season, O'Donohue has spent most of her time in the 1V and helped the boat to gold at Ivies last Sunday.

That's four Ivy medals in four different boats with a chance at a third NCAA medal this weekend.

How did she do it?

It starts with a quote from her mother about working hard and not falling back on talent.

So O'Donohue locked in.

"I really focused on my training," said the senior captain. "I was out in a single every day in the summer and tried to put myself in the best position for the next season."

"I have loved seeing Laoise grow as an athlete and rower," said Holroyd. "Technically and physically, she has improved enormously at Princeton. One of her strongest attributes is her resilience and she is an incredible racer."

O'Donohue, who will earn a third CRCA Scholar Athlete honor this summer, liked the balance of the academics and rowing piece at Princeton.

"I've always liked having two things that I'm working on at the same time," said O'Donohue. "You never get too mentally drained from each one. If I'm tired of studying, I can go work out and feel fresh again. Also, I'm not dwelling on a bad practice because I have to go work on academic things, which was really nice."

After commencement on Tuesday, the team will fly down Wednesday to Georgia before practice on Thursday. Racing starts Friday with heats before semifinals on Saturday and Finals on Sunday.

Since 2010, the first varsity has secured top 10 finishes at NCAAs all but twice while the team has placed in the top 10 10 times in the 13 NCAA regattas.

This NCAA regatta will provide one more opportunity for the rowing family that O'Donohue grew up in to see her in a Princeton uniform.

"I've looked up to my mother ever since I've started rowing," said O'Donohue. "I never knew how much that would have taken until I started. She rowed at a time when women's rowing was not respected. They only rowed 1K instead of 2K, they didn't have the proper uniforms nor the funding. I feel so lucky to be at Princeton, be able to train in the boathouse and be given everything I need to achieve."

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