USD Men's Rowing 2008-2009

Brooks Dagman

18th Year Head Coach

Brooks Dagman enters his 18th season as the Head Coach of Men's Rowing at USD. Over the past 17 seasons, Dagman has turned the USD Men's Crew Program into one of the most respected programs in the west. During his tenure, Dagman has consistantly guided USD into the medals at both the regional and national level. The 2008 season finished with the varsity squad setting new standards for speed and performance. At the Western Intercollegiate Rowing Championships, the varsity eight finished in front of cross town rivals UCSD. The varsity eight also finished in the medals for the first time ever at WIRA's, picking up a set of bronze medals for their efforts. The same varsity squad went on to set a new school record of 5:47 at the Dad Vails the following weekend in Philadelphia.

The 2006-07 season saw the program set several new records in the eights with school records being set at 5:57 by the first varsity eight and 6:07 by the second varsity eight. The varsity eight finished with a best ever fourth place finish at the Western Intercollegiate Rowing Championships. The varsity lightweight four finished the season with a silver medal performance at WIRAs. The 2006 season was highlighted with some of the strongest racing performances in the program's history. The varsity eight raced to important dual race wins against Santa Clara and UCLA and finished with bronze medals at the WCC championships. The varsity also posted impressive wins at the City Championships in both the heavyweight and lightweight four races, with the lightweights going on to a silver medal race at the WIRAs. The novice program collected several sets of medals, with the final set of medals coming with an impressive come-from-behind sprint to finish third at the Dad Vail Regatta in Philadelphia. This set of bronze medals marks the first set of medals collected by USD in the eight at a season ending Eastern championship race. Besides his USD position, he has also served as assistant coach on the U.S. National Rowing Team which competed in the Pan American Games in Argentina; has worked with the national team at Lake Otay; been President of the Western Intercollegiate Rowing Association; and served as the southwest representative for the Mens Olympic Rowing Committee. Dagman was named to the USD post in 1992 after seving as senior assistant coach at UCLA from 1986-91. He earned three varsity letters as an oarsman for the Bruins (1982-85), receiving the team's Most Valuable Oarsman Award in 1984. Brooks and his wife, Barbara, reside in Lemon Grove with their daughter, Madeleine (15), and son, Hayden (3).

With the graduation of several seniors, the varsity will be a newmix that includes several talented oarsmen from the 2008 novice squad, as well as some strong veteran athletes. "The statistics on this squad are impressive, but the real strength of this squad will be their enthusiasm for training and racing. I see a tremendous work ethic with this group that could move us into a stronger competitive position in 2009"

- Brooks Dagman

Novice 8: 2008 Dad Vail Silver Medalists

Crew phone: (619) 260-2261 E-mail: bdagman@sandiego.edu