2010 National Rowing Hall of Fame Inductee
All-Time Cup Record at Boston University: 60-43 (.583)
COACHING TENURE AT BU
Thomas Bohrer, one of the most accomplished American rowers in Olympic history and a 2010 National Rowing Hall of Fame inductee, recently completed his 17th season with the Terriers in 2024-25, having helped BU become and remain a perennial national rowing power. During the most recent season, he oversaw a BU program that finished 14th overall in the Ten Eyck team points trophy at the 2025 IRA National Championship Regatta. The Terriers also earned Varsity 8 wins over Columbia, Holy Cross, Temple and Marist throughout the spring, the former leading to the program's 10th-consecutive Lusins Cup title.
Prior to 2024-25, Bohrer guided BU to three-consecutive 10th-place team finishes at the IRA National Championship Regatta. At the IRA Championship in 2024, the Terriers' top-two Varsity 8 crews finished 10th overall in the nation, while the Third Varsity 8 was ninth in the country. BU retained the Jablonic Cup with a win over Wisconsin, and swept Holy Cross, Temple, Hobart, and Marist on Lake Quinsigamond. Graduate student Maxwell Kreutzelman (First Team) and freshman Jan Koska (Second Team) were named Empacher-IRCA All-Americans, with Kreutzelman becoming the program's first-ever selection to the First Team.
In the 2022-23 school year, the Terrier Second Varsity 8 earned silver in the Petite Final to finish eighth overall, leading to all four competing Terrier boats to rank in the top-13 nationally to end the season.
That effort followed a 2021-22 season where the Third Varsity 8 placed seventh overall with a Petite Final victory, as BU was 10th overall. During that year, the Varsity 8 ranked as high as 11th in the nation, as BU posted wins over No. 12 Wisconsin and No. 18 Oregon State. The former result allowed the Terriers to reclaim the Jablonic Cup.
During the 2019-20 fall season, Bohrer's 12th at BU, Bohrer coached the Terriers' Championship Eight Boat to a seventh place finish at the 55th Head of the Charles Regatta with a time of 14:03.56. On the day, all four of BU's boats finished in the top 10 while competing against a large and deep field of the top boats in the country.
During the 2018-19 season, Bohrer's 11th at BU, the Terriers finished eighth in the nation at the IRA Championship Regatta with 136 points, a nine point improvement over 2018. The varsity eight boat had three cup victories during the dual season, defeating Syracuse for the Conlan Cup, Columbia for the Lusins Trophy and Dartmouth for the Bill Cup. During the summer of 2019, the Terriers competed at the prestigious Henley Royal Regatta and advanced all the way to the quarterfinals, falling to regatta favorite and eventual champion Oxford Brookes University.
During the 2018 season, Bohrer's 10th at BU, the Terriers pushed all four boats through to the IRA semifinals for the fifth consecutive year, advanced the 3V8 and V4 boats to the grand final and finished with 131 Ten Eyck points, good for eighth place nationally.
The varsity eight boat had three cup victories during the dual season, defeating Wisconsin for the Jablonic Cup, Syracuse for the Conlan Cup and Columbia for the Lusins Trophy. With the victories, BU made it six consecutive Jablonic Cups, eight straight Lusins Trophy races and five of the last six Conlan Cups. Bohrer's dual record during his decade at BU is 54-21 (.701), the highest winning percentage in program history.
The Terriers made a splash at both the 2017 IRAs and the Eastern Sprints by matching the program’s highest overall team finish at both prestigious events. BU finished in sixth place in the IRA standings, matching the 2014 team, and finished fourth in the Row Cup standings at Eastern Sprints to match the 2013 squad.
During the 2017 dual season, the Terriers defeated Brown in the annual Michalson Cup race and, with the win, were in possession of all six of their annual cups for the first time in program history as they won their final five cup races of the 2016 season. Later in 2017, BU also defeated archrival Northeastern by open water to win the Arlett Cup for the third straight year.
In 2016, Boston University men’s rowing team finished seventh in the nation after advancing two boats to the grand finals at the IRA National Championship Regatta and earing 126 Ten Eyck team points. At the Eastern Sprints, the Terriers' 2V medaled for the second-straight year, winning bronze and finishing ahead of Brown, Yale and Wisconsin. During the teams’ dual season, the Terriers varsity eight boat finished with a 6-1 record and won five straight cup races, achieving a national ranking of No. 6.
In 2015, Boston University won the program's first IRA National Championship Regatta medal in eights rowing when the Terriers' second varsity eight boat won bronze, finishing ahead of perennial national powers California, Yale, Brown and Harvard. At the Eastern Sprints, the Terriers' 2V won a silver medal, finishing ahead of Northeastern, Brown, Yale and Harvard. The silver was the first for a second varsity eight boat at Eastern Sprints in program history.
In October 2014, the Terriers finished fourth among colleges in the Head of the Charles Regatta Championship Eights race. BU finished behind only Harvard, Cal and defending IRA National Champion Washington. The results put Boston University among the very best collegiate crews in the nation.
During Bohrer's sixth season, the Terriers swept Wisconsin, Dartmouth, Columbia, Syracuse and Rutgers in dual races. At the 2014 Eastern Sprints, BU advanced all five boats to the grand finals and won three medals, the most in program history. BU also won its first ever Sprints gold medal in the 4V. At the IRA National Championships, the Terriers finished sixth overall in team points and were also winners of the annual IRA Chapman Award given to the team with the largest increase in points over the previous year.
During the 2013 dual season, Bohrer's fifth at BU, the Terriers' varsity eight boat captured four cups, highlighted by the program's first Jablonic Cup victory against Wisconsin since 2005. The crew would go on to reach the Grand Final at the Eastern Sprints and help BU finish with 22 points, two shy of the program record set in 2005. Both the second varsity eight and varsity four boats had impressive seasons with Grand Final appearances at the Sprints and IRAs.
His fourth dual season in 2012 ended on a grand note with the Terriers' varsity eight boat defeating No. 4 California two times for the first time ever in one event during the IRAs en route to a sixth-place finish. BU took seventh overall as a team with 122 points and was only six away from a fifth-place result.
During the 2011 dual season, the Terriers captured a program-record five cups. They opened the year by winning both the Michalson Cup and the freshman race against Brown for the first time ever in one year. The Cup victory marked Bohrer's second in three years against the Bears and BU's fourth overall dating back to 1980.
Carrying momentum from the win, BU went on to defeat Northeastern (Arlett Cup), Dartmouth (Bill Cup), Syracuse (Conlan Cup) and Columbia (Lusins Cup) with the win against the Orange marking BU's first since 2005. The varsity eight boat would later fall 0.3 seconds short of a undefeated record against Wisconsin, but BU would rebound from the heartbreaker by being one of only three programs to have both the varsity eight and freshman eight boats reach the Grand Final at the Eastern Sprints.
In 2010, the freshman eight boat recorded an undefeated dual-season record and would go on to finish fourth at the Eastern Sprints, its best result in over 40 years. The freshmen missed out on a Grand Final appearance at the IRAs by 0.244 seconds but came back the following day to win the Petite Final. Facing a similar situation after missing out on the Grand Final by 0.02 seconds, the varsity eight boat also captured the Petite to help BU finish sixth overall in the team standings, an improvement of one spot from 2009.
The Terriers made a splash in Bohrer's first year at the 2009 Eastern Sprints and the IRA Championships by sending both varsity eight boats to each of the Grand Finals for the first time ever in the same year. The Terriers varsity eight boat upset then-No. 2 Brown during the Michalson Cup race for their first win against the Bears since 1987. They carried the momentum from the win to make a last-minute charge in the semifinals of the IRA Championship to overtake No. 4 Wisconsin and reach the Grand Final for the first time since 2005. With the second varsity eight boat also reaching its respective Grand Final race at the IRAs, BU received the Clayton Chapman Award for the most improved team in the country.
ROWING CAREER
A two-time Olympic medalist and a three-time medalist at the World Championships, Bohrer competed for the United States Rowing Team from 1986 to 1994, earning silver medals in the men's coxless fours at two consecutive Olympic Summer Games (Seoul in 1988 and Barcelona in 1992). He was named US Rowing Athlete of the Year in 1989, and served as the Olympic Team Captain in 1992.
ADDITIONAL ACCOMPLISHMENTS
Bohrer has more than 25 years of successful coaching experience, most recently with the Union Boat Club in Boston, where he has trained rowers at the masters, collegiate, novice, youth and national team levels since 2000. He also has served as the boys' varsity coach at Wayland-Weston High School, which won state championships each of the three years he coached there.
Bohrer founded TBfit.com, a subscription website providing rowing and strength-training programs, and has served as a consultant for Concept 2, a manufacturer of rowing machines and oars. He had two previous stints as a coach with Community Rowing and was Middlesex School's director of rowing and strength and conditioning coach from 1997-99. He has served as the head indoor rowing instructor for the Concord Recreation Department since founding the program in 1998.
Certified as both a personal trainer (CPT) and strength and conditioning specialist (CSCS), Bohrer continues to compete at the master's level. He won the Masters Singles (30+) at the Head of the Charles in 2001 and 2002, and finished second in 2003. In 2004 and 2005, he won the Masters eight-man with his former club, Penn AC. He returned to the podium in 2008 and 2009 with first-place results in the Masters Singles (40+) competition.
PERSONAL
Bohrer graduated from the Florida Institute of Technology with a bachelor of science degree in 1986. He lives in Concord, Mass., with his wife, CB Sands, a two-time lightweight world champion. They have three children: Sally, Sabrina and Si.
