BRISTOL, R.I. – A new season brings a new look for the Roger Williams University sailing team.
After a historic 2025-26 campaign that saw the Hawks earn multiple national championship berths, RWU enters the 2026-27 season with a talented group of returning leaders and plenty of opportunities for new sailors to step into prominent roles.
Head Coach Amanda Callahan enters her 19th season at the helm of the Hawks, having helped establish Roger Williams as one of the premier programs in collegiate sailing. Under Callahan's leadership, the Hawks have enjoyed sustained success while gaining widespread national attention and recognition throughout the collegiate sailing landscape.
The Hawks graduated last year's starting lineup of open team race skippers, leaving significant openings across the roster. The Hawks return a strong contingent of experienced crews, including All-American Addy Fisher (Charleston, S.C.), All-American Honorable Mention Jed Lory (Severna Park, Md.), All-NEISA Second Team Open Crew Carter Sheehan (Middletown, R.I.), and Maggie Fleming (San Diego, Calif.). For a program accustomed to competing at the highest levels of College Sailing, the challenge will be replacing experience while continuing to build on the momentum of an extraordinary season.
"The landscape for College Sailing will be very open this season," said Callahan. "The Class of 2026 was hugely talented, and those sailors had been playing at the top of College Sailing for a couple of years. With so many of those athletes graduating, there is going to be a lot of opportunities for teams to establish themselves, and we're excited to see what this group can do."
WOMEN'S TEAM READY TO BUILD ON HISTORIC SEASON
Senior leaders Lucy Meagher (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) and Tavia Smith (Wilmington, N.C.) will anchor the women's program after playing central roles in one of the most successful seasons in RWU women's sailing history.
Both sailors return after helping the Hawks reach the ICSA Women's Team Race National Championship for the first time in program history, where the Hawks finished 10th overall. The women's team also earned its third consecutive berth at the ICSA Women's Fleet Racing National Championship, finishing 10th in the country.
"Lucy and Tavia have been incredibly important to the growth of our women's program," said Callahan. "They've now experienced what it takes to compete at Nationals, and they understand the level of preparation and consistency that is required."
Joining Lucy and Tavia at the helm is sophomore transfer Maisy Sperry (Dartmouth, Mass.), who joins the Hawks after competing at St. Mary's College of Maryland last season. Sperry raced at the national level at the women's semifinals and women's team racing nationals.
MCHUGH RETURNS TO THE SINGLEHANDED SCENE
Junior Connor McHugh (Annandale, N.J.) qualified for the 2025 ICSA Open Singlehanded National Championship after finishing fourth at the NEISA Singlehanded Championship. At Nationals in Norfolk, Va., he finished 14th overall.
After spending much of the summer competing in the ILCA dinghy domestically and abroad, McHugh will return to the singlehanded circuit with the goal of earning another trip to Nationals. The first step comes September 18-19 at the qualifier.
Sophomore Jonathon Reece Schwartz (Miami, Fla.) and first-year Stewart McCaleb (Long Beach, Calif.) also trained and competed with McHugh at the LA28 Olympic venue in California alongside numerous Olympic hopefuls.
OPPORTUNITY ACROSS THE ENTIRE ROSTER
While the Hawks return national-level experience in Meagher, Smith and McHugh, the defining characteristic of this year's team will be opportunity.
With significant holes to fill across the open team and match racing squads, the competition for starting positions will be wide open. The current roster includes returning sailors who have gained experience at major regattas, while the Hawks will also welcome seven newcomers to the roster who will have an opportunity to make an immediate impact.
"One of the things we're most excited about is that there isn't one obvious answer for what this team is going to look like," Callahan said. "There are a lot of sailors who are going to have the opportunity to step up, and we're going to find out pretty quickly who is ready to take advantage of it."
With a combination of returning experience and new opportunities throughout the roster, the Hawks enter 2026-27 looking to once again establish themselves among the nation's top collegiate sailing programs.
WHAT'S NEXT?
The Hawks open the 2026-27 season on Saturday, September 12, with regattas at Yale University, MIT, Coast Guard, Brown University and at home at the Richard L. Bready Mount Hope Bay Sailing and Educational Center.
