Zara Bongiorno

Class:
Sophomore
Height:
5-9
Hometown:
Melbourne, Australia
High School:
St. Catherine's
Major:
Business Administration

Pronunciation

At Michigan
• Member of the 2024 Big Ten Championship Team
• Big Ten Champion (2024, 1N8)
• Academic All-Big Ten (2025)

Sophomore (2025)
• Rowed the bow seat of the 2V8 as it finished second (6:43.97) against Syracuse and Penn in the morning session of the Big Ten/Ivy Dust Up (March 22)
• Timed 6:37.3 with the 2V8 from the bow seat against Yale during the afternoon session at the Big Ten/Ivy Dust Up
• From the bow seat of the 2V8, timed 6:56.7 against Oklahoma and 7:14.8 against Virginia at the Big Ten/ACC Challenge (March 29)
• Placed second (6:32.28) with the 2V8 in the fifth seat at Texas (April 12)
• Finished first (6:27.56) in the morning and third (6:37.74) in the afternoon session from the third seat of the 2V8 on day one (April 18) of the Big Ten Invitational
• From the third seat, placed fourth (6:41.01) in the 2V8 on day two (April 19) of the Big Ten Invitational
• On the first day of the Big Ten Championship (May 17), helped the 2V8 advance to the finals in second place (6:39.85) from the bow seat
• Earned bronze in 6:23.80 from the bow seat of the 2V8 to help the team finish third overall on finals day of the Big Ten Championship (May 18)
• From the second seat, helped the 2V8 advance to petite finals and time 6:26.86 to finish ninth as a boat and 11th as a team at the NCAA Championship (June 1)

Freshman (2024)
• Made her Michigan debut in stroke seat of the 1N8 as it timed 7:04.5 against Virginia in the morning and 7:24.6 against Duke in the afternoon at the Big Ten-ACC Challenge (March 30)
• Rowed in stroke seat of the 1N8 as it timed 6:55.96 to beat Michigan State (April 6), finishing behind U-M's 3V8
• Helped the 1N8 place second in the mixed eight race against U-M's winning 3V8, the 2N8 and an Open 8 (April 13) in 6:51.06 from stroke seat
• Finished second (7:08.804) and third (6:54.633) from stroke seat of the 1N8 on the first day of the Big Ten Invitational (April 19)
• Placed third (6:50.014) with the 1N8 in stroke seat on the second day of the Big Ten Invitational (April 20)
• Won a gold medal in 6:42.437 from the seventh seat of the 1N8 to help the team win the Big Ten Championship (May 19)

Prep
• Attended St. Catherine's School in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
• Earned the title of Captain of Boats for the 2021 and 2022 seasons
• Currently competes with St. Catherine's Boat Club and Mercantile Rowing Club
• Competed at the Henley Royal Regatta (2022) and won in the Prince Phillip Challenge Cup with St. Catherine's 8
• Selected to row with the Team Australia Junior National team in 2021; unable to race due to COVID restrictions
• Won an Australian National Championship (School Girl Division 1) in 2022
• Two-time Head of School Girls Champion (2021-22)

Personal
• Daughter of Felicity and Gerard Bongiorno