Former U.S. Olympian Matthew Smith was named the heavyweight freshman rowing coach in August of 2008 and was promoted to Associate Head Coach in August of 2011. In his six seasons he has led the Big Red rookies to some of its best campaigns in recent history.
A coach with a national reputation, Smith was named the head coach for the USRowing Under 23 men's national team in the summer of 2014. He selected and trained the men's eight and straight four that competed in Varese, Italy. The men’s eight, which included Big Red rower Greg Davis, won a bronze medal. Prior to being named the head coach, Smith served as an assistant coach for the US U23 national team in 2012 and 2013 with the primary responsibility of coaching the heavyweight straight four and assisting with the heavyweight eight. In 2012 the eight earned the gold medal while the straight four took fourth. The following year the eight won silver and the straight four earned bronze.
Last season, the freshman eight went 2-1 with wins over Navy and Penn in the regular season before taking the bronze medal at the EARC Sprints for the fifth time in the past six years. The freshman eight was the only Big Red boat to advance to the Grand Finals at the IRA Regatta and finished sixth in the nation.Â
In 2012-13, the freshmen eight was a perfect 3-0 during the regular season before earning the bronze medal at the EARC Sprints. The crew then finished just outside the medals with a fourth-place finish in the Grand Finals at the IRA Regatta.Â
Smith led the freshmen eight to a 7-1 regular season record and to a bronze medal at the 2012 Eastern Sprints before finishing in fourth place at the 110th IRA Regatta.
The 2010-11 freshman eight went 5-4 on the year with victories over Georgetown, George Washington, Gonzaga, Yale and Penn. The boat went on to finish fifth in the Grand Finals of the Eastern Sprints before placing second in the Petite Finals of the IRA Regatta.
In his second season with the squad, Smith helped the 2009-10 edition of the Big Red freshmen eight to an 8-1 record. The crew went on to have an extremely successful championship season, taking a bronze medal at the Eastern Sprints before finishing fourth at the IRAs. With the third place finish at Eastern Sprints, Cornell medaled in back-to-back Eastern Sprints for the first time since the early 1960s. Likewise, the fourth place finish at IRAs was the Big Red’s best placing since 1994.
Coaching a crew with three walk-on rowers and a walk-on coxswain, Smith led Cornell to a 10-1 record in 2008-09, with the lone loss coming by just .2 of a second. His freshman eight boat medaled at Eastern Sprints with a third-place finish, the Big Red’s best showing since the 1994 crew placed fourth overall. Cornell followed up that performance with a sixth-place finish at the IRA championships, the Big Red’s best finish in 20 years (1997 – sixth place). With two top-six performances in the championship season, the freshman heavyweight's performance was the best showing since the 1994 squad finished fourth at both the Eastern Sprints and IRA championships.
Smith brought to Cornell a unique background with 16 years of rowing experience and eight years of leadership as an officer in the U.S. Army.
A seven-time member of the U.S national rowing team, Smith has won medals at the Pan-American Games, World Championships, and National Championships, while also representing the U.S. in the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece.
Smith has served as a volunteer assistant coach for the men’s varsity heavyweight crew at his alma mater, the University of Wisconsin, during the winters of 2002, 2003 and 2007, assisting in the daily management and logistics of over 45 Division I student-athletes.
Smith rowed all four years for the Badgers, spending two years with the first varsity eight and serving as team captain in his senior season. An Eastern Sprints and IRA medalist, Smith was also a three-time Academic All-Big Ten selection.
Following his graduation from Wisconsin in 2000, Smith was commissioned as an officer in the U.S. Army where he continued his elite rowing career in the Army’s World Class Athlete Program.
During his time in the military, Smith was promoted twice, eventually earning the rank of Captain, and was awarded the Bronze Star and Meritorious Service Medals for exceptional duty in combat and peacetime operations. He is a graduate of the U.S. Army Ranger School and Airborne School.
Smith is married to Hilary Gehman, the Staley Head Coach of Women’s Rowing at Cornell University, and they have two sons, Luke and Carson.
* Updated July 2014
