World University Games: Midori Galligan

Before her first-year move-in at George Mason University, Midori Galligan’s parents encouraged her to try new things and put herself out there — advice many new students have heard countless times. Keeping that in mind, while walking to class one day, she was flagged down by Molly Gredel of the GMU rowing team, who said, “You need to join!”

After some initial hesitancy, Galligan decided to take the risk and follow her parents’ advice.

“The opportunity to try and be a Division I athlete in a sport that’s willing to take me and teach me from the ground up seemed like a really cool opportunity,” Galligan said.

Her decision to join the GMU women’s rowing team started on a whim, but the choice opened the door to possibilities she never anticipated. In June and July, Galligan represented the United States and GMU at the Fédération Internationale du Sport Universitaire (FISU) Rhine-Ruhr 2025 Summer World University Games in Duisburg, Germany.

“If you told me a year ago that I would have done that this summer, I’d be like, ‘Yeah, OK, nice one,’” she said.

Galligan, from Chesapeake, Virginia, began her athletic career playing soccer at about age 4. She continued soccer throughout her school years, including at Hickory High School.

Her aspirations in soccer were growing, but she tore her ACL during her freshman season.

“I wanted to play collegiate soccer,” she said. “I missed the mark for that with my injury.”

Ironically, Galligan’s first encounter with rowing came when a friend from the Hickory Crew team invited her to join. At the time, she wasn’t interested and declined.

Following her return to soccer in her junior year and the completion of her high school career, Galligan decided to attend George Mason University to study kinesiology and eventually join the rowing team.

“I just wanted to prove myself as an athlete,” Galligan said. “I wanted the coaches to know that I have an athletic background and to think that I am driven by what I aspire to do.”

Walking into tryouts, she immediately noticed a large group of girls waiting for their chance to showcase their abilities. The crowd intimidated her, but she did her best to remain composed.

“It’s really funny because the girls that I sat next to ended up being my best friends now,” she said.

The tryouts lasted two weeks, with the first week exclusively indoors. Prospective rowers spent time learning technique on the ergometers. In the second week, the athletes were introduced to GMU’s boathouse and the boats the team uses.

After the two weeks had concluded, Galligan had impressed the coaching staff with her form.

“I had watched a ton of YouTube videos of the form on the erg — our land training machine,” Galligan said. “First day, I’m going to really show that I’ve got this.”

Her determination in tryouts carried over once she made the team. Galligan consistently set personal records, and her confidence grew. During the team’s first two-kilometer test, the standard distance in rowing, she finished first.

Galligan had proved her athletic abilities and knew she could compete at a higher level. Her biggest hurdle was building the mental stamina required for rowing — something she developed through consistent training.

“My self-efficacy grew,” she said. “There are days when I have to do an hour and a half plus of cardio on top of a second session later that day. I have to sit down and tell myself, ‘I am going to go on the erg for an hour and a half, doing the same motion over and over again.’ I feel like I’ve built a lot of mental toughness.”

Heading into the summer, she wanted to join a training program to refine her skills. In late March, during her statistics class, Galligan was researching options when she stumbled upon the World University Games on the USRowing website.

“I researched it. The first thing I saw was that they were going to Germany,” Galligan said. “I thought that was crazy, and I was already ruling that one out.”

After reviewing the required women’s standard 2k times, she realized she met the criteria. Despite qualifying, she doubted she would be selected because she was unfamiliar with the USRowing network.

While traveling to the Dad Vail Regatta with a select group from her team, Galligan received an email from USRowing with “World University Games” in the subject line.

“I was looking at my phone, and I was like, ‘There is no way. I thought this must be a spam email or something. AI is getting crazy,’” she said. “Then I got a second email from someone at USRowing saying, ‘Congratulations!’”

She celebrated with her teammates and coaches, most of whom didn’t even know she had applied.

Training for the Games began in June, leaving her a quick turnaround to confirm her participation. Before camp, Galligan received significant support from teammates, family, and friends back in Chesapeake.

“I had so many teammates from Mason and the community in Chesapeake who were willing to have me at their place or let me train on the Occoquan,” she said.

The camp was held in Ypsilanti, Michigan. Most days featured two training sessions. Galligan and her teammates spent nearly all their time together developing chemistry.

That off-water connection helped ease the “imposter syndrome” she felt.

“I felt a little underprepared in the sense that I’ve never done anything like this before,” Galligan said. “I noticed that once I felt more comfortable outside the boat, I didn’t feel like I had to prove myself inside the boat.”

The month of training was intense, but it prepared the U.S. crew for the Games.

As for the travel, Galligan had never been on a flight longer than three hours. She made a concerted effort to engage with the culture in Duisburg — ordering food in German, listening to new music, and soaking in the realization that she was far from Chesapeake or the United States.

The rowing events were the final events of the Games. Galligan and her teammates, competing in the women’s four, made a point to calm their nerves before the race. During practice, they pointed out a beautiful tree near the start line that they planned to look at on race day.

During the practice start the day before the race, her nerves caught up with her.

“They were running it like it was a real race, so they started saying, ‘USA, Spain, Germany ... Attention, row,’” she said. “That really shook me. I missed the whole start and knew that could not happen on race day.”

On race day, remembering the tree helped calm her. She even surprised herself with how ready she felt.

“I remember looking out and seeing a red, white, and blue blade. Then it hit me — I’m wearing the uniform,” Galligan said. “I’m nervous because I care about it, not because I don’t feel capable. I tried very hard just to be in the boat.”

The United States finished fifth in the Women’s Four Final B. Despite the result, Galligan had no regrets.

“I got off, and there was no part of me that was disappointed. I did everything that I could because physically I was feeling it, so that was awesome,” she said.

Representing the United States and GMU internationally is an experience she’s still processing. Growing up, she watched many U.S. soccer games and admired players who wore the crest, though she never imagined doing something similar.

“The fact that I could represent the U.S. in rowing is interesting to me and hard to wrap my head around sometimes,” Galligan said.

Coming from a school not traditionally known as a rowing powerhouse filled her with pride in representing the green and gold.

Galligan learned a lot about herself and her capabilities through the Games. She hopes to pay it forward to her GMU teammates. Her future goals include making the U23 national team and qualifying for next summer’s World University Championships, also overseen by FISU.

The most important thing she learned goes back to that conversation she had with her parents before college.

“College is the perfect time to step outside your comfort zone,” she said. “Don’t be afraid to overbook yourself a little, try new things, and feel a little uncomfortable because that’s where real growth happens. Push beyond your bubble, and you’ll open the door to bigger opportunities. You’ll surprise yourself with what you’re capable of and discover strengths you never knew you had.”