LYME/OLD LYME — Lyme-Old Lyme High School (LOLHS) 2015 graduate Liam Corrigan will represent the United States at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, which start on Friday. He will be a member of the US Men’s Four boat in the rowing competition.
Heats 1 and 2 of the Men’s Four contest will be held respectively on Sunday, July 28, at 12:50 and 1 p.m. Central European Summer Time (six hours ahead of EST.) The finals are scheduled for Thursday, Aug. 1.
Corrigan’s parents Brian Corrigan and Joan Rivington travel to Paris this week to watch Liam compete.
We are delighted that Brian has agreed to keep LymeLine updated from Paris on Liam’s progress.
Corrigan’s parents, now live in Lyme, Conn. after spending a number of years as residents of Old Lyme.
This is the second time that Corrigan has been selected as part of the US Rowing team. He was a member of the Men’s Eight, which finished fourth in the 2021 Tokyo Olympics—that roster included another LOLHS graduate, Austin Hack, from the Class of 2010.
Hack also represented the US in the Men’s Eight at the Rio Olympic Games in 2016, when the boat again finished fourth.
This time Corrigan will row in the Men’s Four and the team chosen comprises the same members, who brought home a silver medal for that event from the 2023 World Rowing Championships.
The other team members are Michael Grady (Pittsburgh, Pa./Cornell University/California Rowing Club), Nick Mead (Strafford, Pa./Princeton University/New York Athletic Club), and Justin Best (Kennett Square, Pa./Drexel University/California Rowing Club).
Corrigan graduated from Harvard with an honors degree in Physics and Astrophysics and while at Harvard, he was captain of the men’s crew.
Since graduating, he has moved to Oakland, Calif. to train with the men’s training center for the upcoming Olympics. He is a member of the California Rowing Club.
His accomplishments with Team USA include finishing fourth in the pair at the 2017 World Rowing Under 23 Championships, placing fifth in the four at the 2015 World Rowing Junior Championships, taking eighth in the pair at the 2014 Youth Olympic Games and finishing ninth in the eight at the 2014 World Rowing Junior Championships.
Corrigan rowed in the men’s four that won the B final at the 2019 World Rowing Under 23 Championships.
Responding to a question about how he felt after learning Liam had been selected for the US Men’s Eight, Corrigan’s father, Brian, told LymeLine exclusively, “Both Joan and I are very proud of Liam, and very thankful for the opportunities he was given as part of the rowing programs at LOLHS High School and the Old Lyme Rowing Association that got him started in rowing.”
He added, “The Tokyo Olympics did not allow spectators because of COVID-19, so this will be our first chance to watch him compete at the Olympics in person, and we are looking forward to being able to watch him compete in Paris this summer.”
We wish Liam the best of luck in his Olympic endeavor!
“Go Old Lyme! Go USA!”
Editor’s Note: Old Lyme Rowing Association (OLRA) oversees LOLHS crew, and Blood Street Sculls. Blood Street Sculls was established by Fred Emerson (on Blood Street) around 1965, for the cultivation of rowing for local high school students, college students and adults.
Some of the country’s most notable athletes called Blood Street Sculls home in the early days including Jim Dietz who is one of the most decorated scullers in US history (named to three US Olympic teams).
A strong supporter of the nascent sport of women’s rowing, Fred Emerson organized some of the first women’s national championships to be held on Rogers Lake in 1971, which included athletes who would ultimately represent the US in Olympic competition.
Blood Street Sculls was an incubator for rowing programs for high schools and colleges across New England. USCGA and Connecticut College got their start in this manner.
Anita DeFrantz first learned to row as a Connecticut College student, rowing on Rogers Lake. DeFrantz went on to represent the US in the 1976 women’s eight. She was a vocal legal authority when US athletes were prohibited from competition in 1980 and she has risen through the ranks of international rowing and is currently the vice president of the IOC.
Since record-keeping was initiated in 1997, over 100 athletes in OLRA programs have gone on to represent their university in collegiate rowing competition.
Paul Fuchs, Director of Rowing, holds the men’s lightweight course record for Head of the Charles, and competed on seven US World Championship teams. He has coached at the Olympic and World championship levels and serves on the Executive Council of FISA, the international governing body for the sport of rowing. Fuchs is an Old Lyme resident.
Congratulations to Liam Corrigan on a great accomplishment. I was a member of the “original” LOLHS boys’ rowing team that got its start on Blood Street in the spring of 1975. We weren’t very good, although we had a lot of fun. Fred Emerson was a real character, but extraordinarily generous and committed to making the sport accessible to young people. My LOLHS and Yale classmate Jamie Gordon went on to have a distinguished rowing career, and Liam is yet another beneficiary of Fred Emerson’s legacy.
I rowed with Peter and Jamie in their last year. I couldn’t agree more! We were pretty bad as a team, but had a great time on the water. One could say that we were the “Bad News Bears” of rowing. Still, to see where the team has gone….. Our son Harry was Liam’s boat mate in their senior year , where they silvered in Head of the Charles, and the Nationals. These young men were all heart when they rowed. All the best to Liam and his team!
Lastly, it has been said; “ Fred Emerson is the patron saint of rowing”. Absolutely!