Megan Smith Named Long Beach State Women’s Rowing Asst. Coach

July 7, 2014

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Long Beach, Calif. – Megan Smith (“Smitty”) has been named the new assistant women’s rowing coach at Long Beach State, as announced by head coach Ian Simpson today.

As an athlete, Megan competed in two NCAA championships with the University of California, Berkeley, helping the varsity eight to a second place finish in 2006 and winning the NCAA Division I team championship in 2005 and 2006. At the elite level, Smith has most recently trained with the US Women’s National Team at the Olympic Training Center in Princeton, New Jersey. Her international results include winning a gold medal at the 2006 U-23 World Championships in the Women’s Eight and a bronze medal in the Women’s Eight at the 2007 U-23 World Championships. Megan won a silver medal at the 2011 Pan American Games in Mexico in the Women’s Pair.

Smith’s on the water duty will be coaching the novice women. Off the water, she will be working in collaboration with Simpson and volunteer assistant coach Jackie Flietstra in all aspects of the program. She replaces former assistant coach Tamar Schaap.

Smith graduated from the University of California with a B.A. in Psychology in 2007. She learned to row at Cal “…I chose rowing because of the women on the team at Cal, because their intense drive and team effort were unlike anything I had ever been a part of before…”

“This is a great hire for our program,” Simpson said. “Smitty is passionate about the sport and is poised to make a big impact at Long Beach State. She learned to row at college and has experienced success as an athlete at both the collegiate and elite levels of our sport and is excited about sharing her knowledge and enthusiasm with the team.”