On Dianshan Lake in Shanghai, the 2025 World Rowing Championships brought together the world’s elite, and among them, Michelle Sechser made history. Competing in the Lightweight Women’s Single Sculls, the Folsom native captured gold, standing atop the podium as the U.S. flag was raised and the national anthem played, a moment she described as “cheesy, but it really meant a lot.”
Sechser is perhaps best known in recent years as a stalwart of the lightweight women’s double sculls for the United States. She medaled at World Championships in that event with silver in 2022 and 2023 and represented the U.S. in the lightweight double at the Tokyo and Paris Olympics. But 2025 marked a bold pivot.
After Paris, Sechser attempted to make the open weight team, aware that doubles were no longer an Olympic event. “I came up a little bit short, and it was a pretty easy and almost exciting pivot into the lightweight single after that, and it didn’t even feel like any sort of downgrade. I was really excited… I love this boat class. It’s so nice to kind of, for better or worse, you know, your whole crew is you,” she reflected.
For Sechser, it was a return to a boat class she loves and one that has always held a special place on her bucket list. “It’s been a dream that I could be on the top step at a world championship… to be in the single and sing the national anthem as they raised the U.S. flag. It felt really special.”
Sechser arrived in Shanghai prepared and confident. In her heat, she surged ahead early, opening a nearly four-second lead by midrace, holding off China’s Dandan Pan to win in 7:33.64, the fastest time of all heats. She continued her dominance in the semifinal, finishing in 8:01.20 to secure a top lane in the A Final.
Reflecting on her final race, she emphasized the blend of excitement and focus: “I keep asking a lot of my body, and it keeps delivering… It’s so exciting to be here, to see that the lightweight single is still alive and well. The speeds are good. Without a tailwind, to still be nearly inside 7:30 is great. For me, just getting to do what I love and race the best in the world and have teammates pushing me… it’s a really great time.”
At 13 years on the national team, Sechser is the longest-serving member of the U.S. squad this year. She described her 2025 campaign as “really just a sense of adventure. I’ve never had a clean lead-up in the lightweight single for a world championship… to feel like I’m still part of that open weight sculling team, to get to fill in briefly for some of the other boat classes, has been a great journey.”
Her years of racing in both doubles and singles informed her approach. “The one that felt most similar to this one was actually the 2017 World Championship in Sarasota. I raced the lightweight double with Emily Schmieg, and we had one of the fastest times going into the final… it can almost be more nerve-wracking being in position to win, than being the underdog.”
Sechser also reflected on the mental adjustment required for single sculls. “It’s so different being in the single—not having Molly Reckford or Mary Jones Nabel in my bow to distract your mind, or a dialed-in race plan with our team language. Every race is its own experience… every year, I’m a different person.”
Even after achieving one of her lifelong goals, Sechser’s ambitions continue. “I really would like to try and make the open weight team… almost out of curiosity, like, can I keep asking more of my body, and can it deliver? Can I get a little bit quicker, a little bit stronger to be a valuable team member on the U.S. rowing sculling team?”
Her 2025 lightweight single world title is a testament to perseverance, adaptability, and the thrill of racing the best in the world, an achievement that solidifies Sechser’s legacy and leaves fans excited to see what the next chapter will bring.
That legacy is built on more than just her latest win. One year earlier, Sechser closed the book on her Olympic career in Paris, competing in the finals of the lightweight women’s double sculls with partner Molly Reckford. The duo finished sixth, but for Sechser, just being there was a reward of its own. “It was an incredible experience,” she said. “While the result is not how I wanted this lightweight double race to end for me, obviously, what an incredible day. I woke up this morning. It was stunning. The water was beautiful. Molly and I are both healthy. We have all the support staff we could want.”
“We knew it was going to be hard; it’s a lightweight women’s race, so that’s never in doubt,” Reckford said at the time. “We also knew that we had very good base speed, and we needed to stay with the pack. Strategically, we had talked about no matter what happens, stay with the pack. If you have to go 300 meters in, go 300 meters in. Michelle led, and I followed her calls, and we kept it higher than we normally rate. We really gave it all in that first (1,000 meters) to stay with the pack, and I think we did a better job with that this race than we had earlier in the regatta. But you pay for that, and it meant that we couldn’t quite get to that final gear.”
While the result was not the medal finish she had hoped for, Sechser still found meaning in reaching another Olympic final. “We get to go up against the world and Olympic record holders. We get to go up against the reigning world champions. I couldn’t ask for anything else to get to do. It’s so incredible to be a part of this, to get to be back in this Olympic final even just fighting for a medal.”
It was the culmination of two Olympic appearances for Sechser, who also rowed the lightweight doubles in Tokyo, finishing fifth alongside Reckford. Prior to Paris, she spoke openly about her goals. “My goal is to make that Olympic final, knowing that I’ll be on that start line with the other five fastest countries in the world. And having one shot for the last time,” she said. “I think people build a little something special out of your sleeve knowing that it’s the last time it will ever happen.”
From her earliest days at Lake Natoma with Capital Crew at age 14, Sechser’s career has been defined by persistence and milestones. She has won at the World Rowing Final Olympic Qualification Regatta in 2021, earned a bronze medal at the 2011 Pan American Games, medaled multiple times at World Championships, and even while pursuing her MBA at the University of Tulsa, never wavered from her commitment to rowing.
For Folsom, her journey is a point of community pride. From Paris to Shanghai, from Lake Natoma to the top step of the podium, Michelle Sechser’s career reflects both the grit of an Olympian and the heart of a hometown athlete whose story continues to inspire.
Copyright © 2025, Folsom Times, a digital product of All Town Media LLC. All rights reserved. No portion of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the publisher. Thank you to US Rowing for assistance with this article.
