ITHACA, N.Y. — Cornell men's heavyweight rowing has added George Drago to its coaching staff, head coach Todd Kennett '91, the Spirit of '57 Director of Cornell Rowing, announced Tuesday morning (Aug. 11). Drago joins the Big Red after a standout rowing career at Penn and serving as a volunteer assistant coach for the Quakers' lightweight program for the 2025-26 season.

As a volunteer assistant coach at Penn, Drago helped guide the Quakers' V4+ to their first-ever IRA National Championship title this past May while also coaching the 4V8+ to a silver medal at EARC Sprints, also a program-best finish.

"I am incredibly excited by the opportunity to join the Cornell men's heavyweight rowing program," Drago said. "The team has deep roots in the history of collegiate rowing, and I hope to contribute to that legacy while I am here."

Drago raced for and coached with Cornell Athletics Hall of Fame men's lightweight rower and two-time captain Colin Farrell '05. As a student-athlete, Drago was a two-time medalist at both Eastern Sprints and the IRA National Championships, helping the Quakers' 2V8+ win gold at Eastern Sprints in 2024 — Penn's first title at the event since 1949 — while helping contribute to Penn's first Jope Cup championship since 1967. He also helped Penn's 2V8+ place second at the IRA National Championships in both 2024 and 2025, in addition to Eastern Sprints in 2025.

"George comes to us after graduating under the tutelage of Colin Farrell '05," Kennett said. "He had a very influential career at Penn and was a member of the United States Under-23 National Team. His enthusiasm for the sport of rowing is obvious, and his charisma is high energy and full of optimism, which is fun and exciting to work with. We are super excited to have him join the Big Red staff."

A four-year varsity letterwinner, Drago graduated from Penn in 2025 with a degree in design and a minor in the history of art.

Drago's racing résumé extends beyond Penn as he qualified with the U.S. National Team at the 2024 Mega-Worlds Trials in Princeton, N.J. He also represented Team USA at the 2024 World Rowing Under-23 Championships in St. Catharines, Ontario, earning silver in the men's under-23 lightweight pair. Earlier, Drago raced for the Princeton National Rowing Association/PNRA-Mercer, winning bronze in the boys' V8+ at the 2021 Youth National Rowing Championships.