Rowing
Overview
Baylor founded a rowing team in 1994 and has competed at the top levels of scholastic rowing since.
Facilities
- The team's facilities include an on-campus boathouse and dock situated on the Tennessee River, with over 60 miles of water between the Chickamauga and Nickajack Dams usable for training and competition.
- The team's fleet is comprised of state-of-the-art Vespoli shells and includes six 8-oared and four 4-oared boats.
- Our indoor training room in the Baylor Field House features 30 rowing machines, spin bikes, and ski ergs. Strength training is done in the beautiful Von D. Oehmig Sports Performance Center.
Fast Facts
- The team qualified boats for the U.S. Youth National Championships in 2005, 2006, and 2007 before concentrating on the Scholastic Rowing Association of America Championships in 2008. Baylor crews appeared at the Scholastic Nationals in 2008, 2009, and 2016.
- Baylor girls have gone on to row for several Division I college programs including Alabama, Clemson, Kansas, North Carolina, Tennessee and Tufts.
- Baylor boys have rowed for Boston University, the U.S. Coast Guard Academy, Gonzaga, Hamilton, MIT, Princeton, the University of Washington, and Tufts.
- Many Baylor rowers have pulled for collegiate club programs.
Rowing is a three-season sport with competition in the fall and spring, and training in the winter.
Schedules & Scoreboard
News
Coaches
Program Director: Anders Swanson
Girls' Head Coach: Anders Swanson
Girls' Asst. Coach: Liz Young
Boys' Head Coach:: Kate Hall
Boys' Asst. Coach: Whitney Standefer
Anders Swanson
After beginning his rowing career at McCallie School, Anders Swanson was a two-time All-Ivy selection, an Ivy League champion, and a third place finisher at the collegiate national championships while serving as co-captain of the Princeton University crew. Swanson has coached rowing for 14 years, and has been head coach at Girls Preparatory School, Choate Rosemary Hall, and now Baylor. Under his guidance, crews have finished as high as second at the Youth National Championships and individual athletes have gone on to row for countless Division I universities and colleges as well as junior, U23, and senior national teams.
“Baylor athletes excel at far more than their chosen sport,” says Swanson. “They are thoughtful students, leaders on campus and in the community, and fully engaged with all aspects of school life. I learn something new every day from these scholar-athletes, and they create a coaching environment that is rewarding in ways I have not experienced at other institutions.”
Swanson’s coaching philosophy begins with culture. “A team can only be successful if athletes are committed to building something that extends beyond their own personal goals,” he explains. “Athletes must aim to be excellent across the breadth of their life at Baylor, holding themselves to the same high standard of success in everything they do, not just on the water or on the rowing machine. Our rowers should seek out opportunities at Baylor to enrich their intellectual and extracurricular lives, as a complement to their rowing career. This ‘juggle’ can be challenging, but athletes will leave our program and Baylor having experienced all that our school can offer.”