MEET DAN WALSH
Two-time Olympian and Bronze medalist in rowing
Daniel Michael Walsh was born in Norwalk, Connecticut to Jim and Dana Walsh of Brooklyn, New York. The youngest of four children by nine years, Dan grew up entertaining himself with TV, comic books and video games. Sports were not of interest to young, skinny Danny Walsh. He was a mediocre athlete and became a typical "kid on the couch." During the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games, he saw rowing on TV and decided to get off the couch and get on the water. Walsh was invited to his first U.S. Junior National Camp two years into the sport.
In 2001, Walsh attended Northeastern University in Boston and majored in Sports Medicine & Exercise Physiology. Throughout his collegiate career, Walsh played an integral role on a self-proclaimed “blue collar” rowing team, the Northeastern Huskies. Notorious underdogs, the Huskies fought to become worthy rivals of the top Ivy league crews like Princeton, Yale and their rivals on the Charles River, Harvard. Walsh’s tenacity and sheer power helped lead the Huskies to successful finishes at the Eastern Sprints and IRA National Championship Regatta. Walsh is the only oarsman in the history of Northeastern men’s rowing to be so decorated. In the summer of 2009, he was inducted into the Northeastern Varsity Club Hall of Fame.
In 2001, Walsh made his debut on the U.S. National Rowing Team, where he would compete internationally for the next 12 years. In 2004, Dan participated as an alternate in the Athens Olympic Games, where the men's eight won first place. With a gold medal just out of his reach, Walsh became even more driven and focused, fueling his fire to compete in the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. After seven continuous years of arduous training and sacrifice, Walsh realized his dream of Olympic glory by earning a bronze medal in 2008. After the Games, Walsh was awarded a rare key to the City of Norwalk and a proclamation of “Dan Walsh Day” from the Governor of Connecticut.
Dan’s professional career began as an entrepreneur and co-founder of Engine Room Fitness. Walsh used his personal training experience and exercise physiology degree to open an indoor rowing gym and fitness center in San Diego, California in 2009. After his retirement from professional rowing, Walsh co-founded Myrmidon Expeditions with three U.S. military veterans, in order to revive his former lifestyle of performing at elite levels of competition.
In 2012, Dan returned to his alma mater Northeastern University as Assistant Coach, helping the NU Huskies reach collegiate success during his tenure, including a silver medal at Eastern Sprints and a strong showing at the IRA Championships final. He was also Director of Athlete Engagement and Sports Legacy at Boston 2024, the organizing body that attempted to bring the Olympics to Boston.
Dan transitioned to become Director of High Performance and Development at Maritime Rowing Club and was proud to coach on the same river he rowed as a teenager. In 2018, Walsh helped the club win two gold medals at the USRowing Youth National Championships.
Today, Walsh is the Northeast Sales Manager at Hudson Boatworks and continues to advocate for equality in the sport of rowing and the Olympic movement. He's actively involved with Arshay Cooper 's A Most Beautiful Thing Inclusion Fund, and has launched a new Fast Friends podcast with his fellow Olympic rowers.
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Of all of Walsh’s impressive accomplishments, he is most proud to be a father to his daughters Stella & Circe. Walsh lives in Norwalk with his wife of twelve years, Keri. In his free time, Dan enjoys going hiking, camping, surfing and just enjoying the simplicity of the outdoors... no racing required.