Yale

Mike Gennaro, a decorated international and collegiate rower, joined the Yale heavyweight coaching staff as an assistant in August of 2016 and made an immediate impact. The Bulldogs captured three straight National Championships and EARC Sprints Titles in 2017, 2018 and 2019, and he was promoted to Associate Head Coach in 2021. The 2020 and 2021 racing seasons were canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but when the Bulldogs resumed racing in 2022, they won the EARC title and Ten Eyck Trophy for overall team points at the National Championships. Gennaro was named Yale's Craig W. Johnson '68 Head Coach of Heavyweight Crew in June 2023. 
 
Gennaro, a Havertown, Pa., native, began his rowing career at St. Joseph's Prep in Philadelphia, where he was co-captain of the squad in 2007. Gennaro earned a spot on the 2007 U.S. Junior National team in the bow seat for the 8+ that finished fifth at the Junior World Championships in Beijing.
 
His rowing career continued at Syracuse University, where he was team captain and helped the Orange make their first grand final at the IRA National Championships in 20 years. While at Syracuse, Gennaro's international career blossomed as he rowed for three Under-23 U.S. National Teams. In September 2024, Gennaro was inducted into the Syracuse Rowing Hall of Fame. 
 
In 2009, he sat in the bow seat of the U.S. Under-23 4- winning a silver medal in Racice, Czech Republic. In 2010, he stroked the U.S. Under-23 8+, winning another silver medal in Brest, Belarus. In 2011, after graduating from Syracuse, Gennaro stroked the U.S. Under-23 8+ to a gold medal in Amsterdam, setting a new World Record at 5:24.
 
After completing his collegiate and Under-23 careers, Gennaro set his sights on the U.S. Senior National Team. He competed in two events at the 2011 Pan American Games in Guadalajara, Mexico, where he won two gold medals in both the 8+ and 2-. Those results earned him and his pair partner, Ty Otto, an opportunity to join the U.S. Senior Team at the Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista, Calif. Gennaro and Otto earned spots as alternates at the 2012 Summer Olympic Games in London.
 
Gennaro continued his Olympic dream training full time with the U.S. National Team squad. In 2013, he sat in the stroke seat of the U.S. 4-. That summer, his crew won a gold medal at the 2013 World Rowing Cup III in Lucerne, Switzerland, and a bronze medal at the 2013 World Rowing Championships in Chungju, Korea. The crew stayed together for the 2014 campaign. With Gennaro now sitting in the 2 seat, the U.S. 4- won a silver medal at the 2014 World Rowing Cup II in Aiguebelette, France, and a silver medal at the 2014 World Rowing Championships in Amsterdam. In 2015, Gennaro sat in the 2 seat of the U.S. 8+, winning a bronze medal at the 2015 World Rowing Cup II in Varese, Italy, and finished 7th at the 2015 World Rowing Championships in Aiguebelette, France. In 2016, Gennaro narrowly missed making the U.S. Olympic Team.
 
In the summer of 2018, Gennaro married Amy Cross, who was a decorated lacrosse player at Syracuse University and is currently a special education elementary school teacher in Southington, Conn. They live in Southington with their beautiful daughter, Gloria, and their dog, Jackson. He credits all of his success throughout his life to his parents, Bill and Suzie, as well as his two brothers and four sisters.