Aug. 29, 2016
SAN DIEGO -- San Diego State women's rowing head coach Bill Zack announced the hiring Monday of Bobbie Smith as assistant coach. Smith arrives on Montezuma Mesa after a prosperous four-year run with the junior rowing program at the Marina Aquatic Center in Marina Del Rey, Calif. She will be involved in all phases of the Aztec program on and off the water.
During her tenure at the MAC, Smith was the lead coach for the lightweight and sculling crews, directing the lightweight eight to a first-place finish in the Referee Cup at the 2016 San Diego Crew Classic to go with a runner-up performance at the US Rowing Southwest Junior Championship, as well a seventh-place standing at the US Rowing Youth National Championships. She also assisted head coach Zohar Abramovitz and ran summer camps while recruiting athletes into the main program.
"We are excited to add Bobbie Smith to our coaching staff," Zack said. "Her background as a rower in the national team system and her familiarity with the high school rowing scene in California are very valuable assets. Bobbie witnessed great success with the MAC program, and I know she is looking forward to helping our team to reach new heights in the American Athletic Conference."
As a collegian, Smith was a four-year competitor for the UCLA rowing team, earning a bronze medal in the lightweight four event at the 1997 Pacific Coast Rowing Championships to go along with all-Pac-10 Conference honors in 1999.
After graduating with a bachelor's degree in materials science and engineering from UCLA in 2000, Smith had training stints with the Chula Vista Olympic Training Center group, as well as the Long Beach Rowing Association and the Southern California Scullers Club. She also competed in National Selection Regattas, Speed Order Trials, the Royal Canadian Henley Regatta and other major races.
Smith began her professional career as head coach of the junior program at the California Yacht Club in 2003. While at CYC, Smith implemented training plans and worked with budgeting, as well as regattas, rigging and program administration.
SDSU, which is entering its third year as a member of the American Athletic Conference, opens its 2016 fall schedule on Sunday, October 30, at the San Diego Row for the Cure.