Naval Academy Director of Athletics Chet Gladchuk announced Wednesday the hiring of Steve Gladstone as the Tom and Candy Knudson Heavyweight Rowing Head Coach.
Gladstone has coached more IRA Championship crews than anyone in intercollegiate rowing and is regarded as one of the top crew coaches in the history of the sport.
“Steve Gladstone is the benchmark in all of intercollegiate rowing,” said Gladchuk. “His accomplishments are unsurpassed in the annals of the sport’s history. The positive influence he has had on the lives of thousands of student-athletes over his career is as important to us at the Academy as his competitive achievements. He has been a leader and an educator that clearly understands our mission and has lived Naval Academy values throughout his professional career. Having Steve embrace the opportunity is exciting and sets the stage for many great days ahead in the boathouse and on the Severn.”
“Being appointed the Tom and Candy Knudson Heavyweight Rowing Coach is an honor,” said Gladstone. “There have been many times in the course of my coaching career I dreamed of coming to the United States Naval Academy. Coaching young men who will be serving their country in leadership positions in the military and beyond is an absolute privilege.”
Gladstone most recently was a head coach at Yale where he led the Bulldogs to unprecedented heights under his leadership. He was awarded with the 2015 US Rowing Medal while being named Ivy League Coach of the Year in 2015, 2016, 2018, 2019 and 2023 and Eastern Association of Rowing Colleges (EARC) Coach of the Year in 2016, 2017 and 2018.
Yale won three-consecutive Intercollegiate Rowing Association (IRA) National Championships (2017, 2018, 2019) for the first time in program history and won seven-straight Sprints titles.
Gladstone’s 14 IRA Championships during his career place him in a tie with Charles “Pop” Courtney of Cornell (1901-15) for the most varsity eight titles in the history of collegiate rowing.
As the head coach of Cal, Gladstone’s crews medaled at the IRA regatta 11 times in his 12 seasons, which was an unprecedented achievement in the long history of the championship.
Over that same period, he directed Cal to eight Pac-10 Championships. His career totals include nine Pac-10 Championships – all at Cal – multiple Eastern Sprints titles (7 at Yale, 4 at Brown), while his 14 IRA gold medals were shared between Cal (6), Brown (5) and Yale (3).
As the director of rowing operations at Brown, Gladstone’s crew triumphed four times at the Eastern Sprints, five times at the IRA regatta and twice at the National Collegiate Rowing Championships.
Gladstone has also served as the U.S. National team coach and was a selector for the 1972 U.S. Olympic team.
Gladstone has served on the Board of Directors of the National Association of Amateur Oarsmen and has also been a member of the Men’s Olympic Rowing Committee. He served as ABC’s analyst for rowing events at the Los Angeles Olympics. He worked in the same capacity for NBC at the Seoul Olympic Games.
Steve Gladstone added the director of athletics role to his duties at Cal, overseeing a department that placed ninth in the Directors’ Cup for overall excellence and won five national team championships.
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