ITHACA, N.Y. – After successfully serving as interim head coach since arriving at Cornell in December 2022, Tyler Nase has officially been elevated to the Henry E. Bartels '48 Head Coach of Lightweight Rowing it was announced today by Nicki Moore, the Meakem Smith Director of Athletics & Physical Education. Nase is just the fourth head coach in the past 40 years for the Big Red program.

"Tyler has done an amazing job over the past year, and I'm excited that we can reward his hard work and commitment by naming him to the role full time," Moore said. "He embodies all the characteristics we look for in a head coach, and I believe our student-athletes will continue to benefit from his leadership and mentorship. This is a great day for Cornell Rowing."

"I am thrilled to accept this position and am so grateful to Nicki Moore for this incredible opportunity," Nase said. "Being part of a program with such rich tradition and legacy is truly humbling. Working with this team and being a part of the Cornell Athletics community this past year has been a dream come true. I am excited to continue pursuing excellence, teamwork, and victory with Cornell Lightweight Rowing."

An Olympic oarsman for the US Rowing team, a decorated Ivy League competitor as an undergraduate and a rising star in the coaching profession, Nase joined the staff as interim head coach in December 2022. He has directed every aspect of the program since, from fundraising and recruiting to training and race strategy. The Big Red saw marked improvement during the 2022-23 season, winning its first Head of the Charles and Princeton Chase races in five years, knocking off top-ranked Princeton on home waters to recapture the Platt and Harriot Cups, then finishing on the podium at the Eastern Sprints in the second, third and fourth varsity boats - winning the 4v. The Big Red claimed fifth place at the IRA National Championship, tied for the program's best finish since 2020.

Nase joined the Big Red after most recently serving as assistant lightweight coach at Penn from 2017-22. He helped the program to its first Ivy League championship in 50 years in 2019, and led them to a third-place finish nationally that same season. The 2021 team took second at IRAs, while the 2022 team topped Princeton for the first time on their Lake Carnegie home course for the first time in 44 years.

He has been around Ivy League rowing since his collegiate days at Princeton, where he competed on the varsity team all four years with the final three in the varsity eight boat. As a freshman, Nase's freshman eight won bronze to help the Tigers claim EARC's Jope Cup along the way, with the varsity eight claiming Ivy League and IRA national titles. His boat won the prestigious Head of the Charles and set the course record in 2010 for varsity lightweight eights. As a senior captain, Nase was awarded the 2013 Gordon Sikes medal, the team award for the senior member of the lightweight crew who has shown the best sportsmanship and done the most for rowing over their four years.

After graduating from Princeton, Nase continued his athletic career with the US Rowing team, where he became an Olympian, a medalist at the junior world championships and senior World cups, and an American record holder. He competed at the 2016 Rio Olympics as an oarsman in the men's lightweight straight four and won bronze at the 2016 World Cup, silver at the 2013 World Cup, and bronze at the 2008 Junior World Championships. In all, he competed in eight World Championships and two World Cups over the span of a decade. Nase set a record for the fastest American 2,000-meter erg time among lightweights at 6:04.4. 

Nase earned his degree from Princeton in sociology in 2013 and completed his MBA from Temple's Fox School of Business with a concentration in business analytics in 2023.

About the Benefactor:
Henry E. Bartels `48 named the Lightweight Rowing Coach position in 2001. He was a former Cornell rower, received a degree in industrial engineering, and became a naval aviator, flying bombers during World War II. After a 37-year career in metalworking manufacturing, he retired as vice president of Insilco Corp. and president of an Insilco subsidiary. In 1999, he and Nancy (his wife of 66 years) made a $15 million gift to a campaign for Cornell athletics, and Bartels Hall was named in their honor.