The two previous holders of the position have gone on to major jobs in sport.
Dean Horo, the first professional manager, now works for High Performance Sport New Zealand as an athlete life adviser in Dunedin.
Sonya Walker has recently been appointed manager for secondary school and university rowing for Rowing New Zealand and is based in Cambridge.
Persico (22) has just completed a physical education degree at the University of Otago.
She comes into the job with a rowing background that started at the age of 14 when she was a pupil at Nelson College for Girls.
Persico won two gold medals for her school at the Maadi Cup in the under-16 eight in 2007 and the under-17 eight in 2008.
She continued her competitive success for the Otago University Rowing Club when she was a student in Dunedin.
Persico won gold medals in the New Zealand championship intermediate four and eight in 2012 and bronze medals in the intermediate eight in 2011 and this year.
Her job is to look after the day-to-day affairs of Otago rowing and to organise the upskilling of coaches.
Persico will also be responsible for implementing the Regatta Committee's plans for the Otago championships and other big regattas run in the region.
''It's my first job and I'm very excited about it,'' she said.
''Otago rowing is doing a good job in getting people involved in the sport.''
Persico comes from a talented family. Her brother, Picci, was a member of the Nelson College First XV, while younger brother Louie is a guitarist in the band Oh Blok that won the 2013 Nelson Smokefree Rockquest.
