NEW HAVEN, Conn. – Dan Williamson of heavyweight crew has been named as the recipient of the William Neely Mallory Award, the most prestigious athletic award given to a senior male at Yale. 
 
The Mallory Award is presented to the senior man who on the field of play and in life at Yale best represents the highest ideals of American sportsmanship and Yale tradition. It is awarded in memory of William Neely Mallory '24, a three-time letterman on the Yale football team who served in the U.S. Army Air Corps in the 12th Air Force during World War II. In 1945 he was killed in a plane crash when leaving Italy headed for home.
 
The Mallory award was conferred on Sunday, May 21, as part of Class Day, a Yale College celebration and tradition that dates to the 19^th century.
 
Williamson recently helped Yale win its seventh consecutive Eastern Sprints and Ivy League Championships. He and the Bulldogs will once again compete at the IRA National Championships in June.
 
Last season Williamson sat in the stroke of the Yale first varsity boat. He led the crew to a second-place, silver-medal finish at the IRA National Championships. The Bulldogs also won their annual four-mile race vs. Harvard while setting a course record. They went undefeated in regular season cup races.
 
As a first year in 2019 Williamson sat in the stroke seat of the Yale first varsity boat. He led the crew to an undefeated season, winning the IRA National Championships along with the four-mile race vs. Harvard, the Eastern Sprints and Ivy League Championships, and all of the regular season cup races. 
 
Williamson has also excelled in international competition. He won a gold medal at the 2021 Summer Olympics in Tokyo for New Zealand in the men's eight. Williamson was the youngest member of that crew, and the only oarsmen in all categories to win an Olympic gold medal while still competing at the NCAA/USA university level.
 
A native of Auckland, New Zealand, Williamson is a graduate of Kings College.