He won a bronze medal in the men's eight at the 2008 Summer Olympics,[1] before a career in law and politics.

McElhenney first competed internationally in 2001, representing the United States in Linz, Austria at the Nations' Cup (Under 23 World Championships) where he coxed the men's eight to a silver medal.

His first major international success at the senior/Olympic level came at the 2003 World Rowing Championships in Milan where he won a gold medal in the coxed four event.

A year later at the 2004 World Rowing Championships, he won a bronze medal in the same event.

At 2005 World Rowing Championships he coxed both the eights and fours, winning a gold and a silver medal respectively, the first US athlete to have earned two medals at the same World Rowing Championships.