October 17, 2026 | Men's Rowing, Women's Rowing, Lightweight Rowing
Two Badger alumni join the NRF Hall of Fame
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — Wisconsin head coach Vicky Opitz (2010) was inducted into the National Rowing Foundation Hall of Fame at the Head of the Charles Regatta with members of the undefeated US women's eights (2013-16) on Saturday, Oct. 17, alongside Badger David Krmpotich (1979).
Joining the Badgers as head coach ahead of the 2023-24 season, Opitz marks the seventh head coach at Wisconsin, the Big Ten's oldest rowing program. Before her appointment to head coach, she worked with the women's lightweight crews as an assistant coach for two seasons.
In her senior year, Opitz and the team won their first Big Ten Rowing Championship in program history, as well as Wisconsin's best finish at the NCAA Rowing Championships placing seventh. That same year, she earned honors as CRCA Pocock First-Team All-American and first-team All-Big Ten, as well as receiving the Big Ten Outstanding Sportsmanship Award.
Following her time competing with Wisconsin, she earned four world championship titles in the women's eight. Opitz has appeared on eight national teams and most recently rowed for the 2022 U.S. National Team women's four.
Opitz served as an alternate for Team USA at the 2016 and 2020 Olympic Games. In 2018 she earned the USRowing Female Athlete of the Year Award, now the Carie Graves Female Athlete of the Year Award as of 2022.
Krmpotich hails from Duluth, Minnesota and rowed for Wisconsin before representing the Penn Athletic Club Rowing Association in 1979. That same year, he traveled to the Pan American Games as an alternate to the U.S. National Team.
In 1988, Krmpotich earned silver in the coxless fours at the Olympic Games in Seoul. He also placed first in the eight at the 1986 Goodwill Games and second in the coxless fours at the 1991 Pan American Games. Krmpotich has represented the United States at many international events over his career, including six world championships and a bronze medal with the men's eight in 1986 at Nottingham.
For 20 years Krmpotich served as President of the Penn AC Rowing Association and has also coached at Monsignor Bonner Catholic High School in Philadelphia.
A four-year basketball player at Minnesota Duluth, Krmpotich was inducted into that school's hall of fame in 2001.
Joining the Badgers as head coach ahead of the 2023-24 season, Opitz marks the seventh head coach at Wisconsin, the Big Ten's oldest rowing program. Before her appointment to head coach, she worked with the women's lightweight crews as an assistant coach for two seasons.
In her senior year, Opitz and the team won their first Big Ten Rowing Championship in program history, as well as Wisconsin's best finish at the NCAA Rowing Championships placing seventh. That same year, she earned honors as CRCA Pocock First-Team All-American and first-team All-Big Ten, as well as receiving the Big Ten Outstanding Sportsmanship Award.
Following her time competing with Wisconsin, she earned four world championship titles in the women's eight. Opitz has appeared on eight national teams and most recently rowed for the 2022 U.S. National Team women's four.
Opitz served as an alternate for Team USA at the 2016 and 2020 Olympic Games. In 2018 she earned the USRowing Female Athlete of the Year Award, now the Carie Graves Female Athlete of the Year Award as of 2022.
Krmpotich hails from Duluth, Minnesota and rowed for Wisconsin before representing the Penn Athletic Club Rowing Association in 1979. That same year, he traveled to the Pan American Games as an alternate to the U.S. National Team.
In 1988, Krmpotich earned silver in the coxless fours at the Olympic Games in Seoul. He also placed first in the eight at the 1986 Goodwill Games and second in the coxless fours at the 1991 Pan American Games. Krmpotich has represented the United States at many international events over his career, including six world championships and a bronze medal with the men's eight in 1986 at Nottingham.
For 20 years Krmpotich served as President of the Penn AC Rowing Association and has also coached at Monsignor Bonner Catholic High School in Philadelphia.
A four-year basketball player at Minnesota Duluth, Krmpotich was inducted into that school's hall of fame in 2001.
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