Meet the Mars native rowing at world championships in Amsterdam after walking on at Washington
Mars resident Blake Vogel will be competing in the 2026 World Rowing Championships next week in Amsterdam.
Vogel, a 2021 Pittsburgh Central Catholic graduate, spent four years on the rowing team there. He walked on the rowing team at the University of Washington.
“They knew of him and had interest in him,” Blake’s mother, Debbie Vogel, said. “He was invited to walk on, so he traveled across the country to do so.
“Washington has one of the best rowing programs in the nation.”
Vogel was on the Huskies rowing team for four years before graduating last year with a degree in real estate and a minor in business. He was named to the All-Mountain Pacific Sports Federation team his senior year.
He never left the sport. Vogel trained on his own in San Francisco before returning to Washington, where he joined forces with fellow former Huskie rower Sam Halbert to form a doubles team.
“They trained together in a two-man boat and attended a tryout for the U.S. rowing national team in July,” Vogel’s mother said.
The duo made the team and will be competing in a pairs race at the World Rowing Championships on Monday. The world competition takes place all of next week.
Vogel has ample experience in international competition. He was a member of the 2019 U.S. Rowing U19 Junior National team. He rowed in the USA coxed four that won bronze at the 2023 U23 World Rowing Championships.
Vogel also won a silver medal in the U.S. men’s eight at the 2024 U23 World Rowing Championships and rowed in the U.S. eight at the 2024 Netz Cup, helping the Americans to a first-place finish.
