Princeton University Athletics
Marty Crotty Named Head Men's Lightweight Rowing Coach
August 14, 2009 | Men's Rowing - Lightweight
“On behalf of the University and the Athletic Department, it is my pleasure to announce the appointment of Martin Crotty as our new head coach of lightweight crew,” Walters said. “Marty has had a very distinguished rowing and coaching career at Princeton and comes highly recommended by the current crew coaching staff, crew alumni and others in the rowing world beyond Princeton. We anticipate a seamless transition from Greg Hughes' leadership of the team to that of Marty's.”
Crotty, who was been the heavyweight assistant coach at Princeton, replaces Hughes, who led the 2009 men's lightweights to an EARC, IRA and Henley national championship before being named head coach of the Princeton heavyweight crew after longtime coach Curtis Jordan (the all-time leader in wins for a Princeton rowing coach) retired at the end of last season. Ironically, Crotty began his coaching career at Princeton by once before replacing Hughes, who went from the heavyweight assistant to the lightweight head coach prior to the 2006 season.
Crotty, who rowed and then coached under Jordan, was a perfect 4 for 4 in leading the heavyweight novice eight to the EARC grand final and had two teams finish on the medal stand. His top finish came in 2008, when the Tigers placed second to Harvard in the Eastern grand final. Princeton had lost to Harvard during the regular season as well.
Princeton also went to three IRA national championship grand finals in four years, including a fourth-place finish in 2006. The only year Princeton missed the grand final was 2009, and the Tigers came back to win the petite final during the regatta.
“I want to thank Gary Walters, his staff and the University for the opportunity to be the head coach of a premier rowing team,” Crotty said. “I also want to thank Curtis Jordan, Lori Dauphiny and Greg Hughes for their support during this interview process. The fact that I will have a chance to lead a tremendous group of individuals at my alma mater makes this appointment especially gratifying. I am confident that we have the talent to continue the success of last year, as well as strengthen the base of our team to achieve some new goals in 2010 and beyond.”
Crotty served as the head coach for the U.S. Men's Junior National Team in both 2005 and 2006 and serces as the assistant junior world championship coach in 2007. He has been coaching crew since he completed his post-graduate studies at Oxford in 1999; he began with a three-year stint at the Loyola Academy Rowing Association in Wilmette, Ill., and in 2003 he moved to West Windsor, N.J., where he coached the Mercer Junior Rowing Club. His varsity eight won the 2004 and 2005 Northeast Junior Regional championships.
A 1998 graduate with a degree in American history, Crotty rowed on several international crews, including the silver medalist U.S. 4- at the 1999 Pan American Games and the silver medalist U.S. Under-23 8+ World Championship squad.
His collegiate rowing career offered Crotty the chance to compete in the biggest competitions in both the United States and Europe. At Princeton, he was part of two IRA national championship teams and an Eastern Sprint champion (1997). He went on to compete for the Oxford Blue Boat in the 145th Boat Race against Cambridge University.
Crotty has extensive administrative experience, including a two-year term as the executive director of the Princeton International Regatta Association and a two-year term as the Co-Director for the Annual Fund at Loyola Academy. He served as the class president for the Princeton Class of 1998, a position into which he was elected by his classmates, from 2003 through 2008.