10 May 2024

In a press release USRowing announced yesterday that the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC) named USRowing’s Ellen Minzner the 2023 Paralympic Coach of the Year for her work with the U.S. Para national team. The award was selected by an independent selection panel of coaching and sport education professionals. 

Ellen Minzner is the third woman in history to receive the award and the first high performance USRowing coach to be honored with a USOPC coaching award. Minzner was a Para national team coach from 2013 to 2018 and was elevated to the USRowing’s Para High Performance Director in 2019. Last year, the Para team won silver medals in the PR3 mixed double and the PR3 mixed four with coxswain at the 2023 World Rowing Championships in Belgrade, Serbia. Both boats qualified for the 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris. Prior to her role, Minzner coached the PR3 mixed four with coxswain. She received the Order of Ikkos, the highest honor bestowed upon a coach by the athletes, for her team winning a medal at the Paralympic Games in 2016. 

“It is an honor to be selected from among the many successful Paralympic coaches in the U.S.,” said Minzner. “It speaks volumes about our program overall, and the countless hours and energy that all the Para coaches on our high performance team give to create successful crews and to advance the sport as a whole.”

Minzner has been instrumental in the progress of adaptive and Para rowing in the United States. She developed the Para national team into an internationally competitive team; the PR3 mixed four with coxswain has consistently reached the podium, winning silver medals at both the Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games. Her tireless efforts to create racing opportunities for Para athletes have resulted in the inclusion of Para events at USRowing events, the Head of the Charles, the Dad Vail Regatta and numerous others. In 2021, the Head of the Charles LTA four with coxswain trophy was named the Ellen Minzner Trophy. 

Amanda Kraus, CEO of USRowing, said “It’s an honor to have Ellen Minzner recognized as the 2023 Paralympic Coach of the Year by the USOPC. Her leadership and commitment to our athletes embody the spirit of excellence we strive for. Congratulations, Ellen!”

Minzner is a pioneer of Para rowing in the United States and has dedicated decades of her career to the improvement of adaptive and Para rowing. During her time with USRowing, she also spent 10 years at Community Rowing Inc. as the Director of Inclusion and Advocacy, where she spearheaded initiatives for inclusion and advocacy for people with disabilities, military veterans, and underserved youths, leaving a lasting impact on the sport at a national level. Minzner was a member of the national team and won gold in the lightweight double at the World Rowing Championships in 1995 and 1996. 

Outside of the Order of Ikkos, this award is the fifth time USRowing has been honored by the USOPC in the last nine years; past accolades have included the DEI & Choice Award in 2015, 2016 and 2022, and Tom West earned the Doc Counsilman Science Award for his innovation in Para boat design in 2022. 

The official USOPC announcement can be found here.