Sandra Chu was named the head coach of William Smith crew in July of 2002. She joined the Herons following three seasons as an assistant coach of women’s crew at Kansas State.

Chu wasted little time making an impact on the Herons’ program, mentoring six All-Americans in her first four seasons, while guiding William Smith to consecutive Liberty League Championship in 2004 and 2006. Over the past three seasons, the Herons have garnered the Liberty League Crew of the Year three times and the 2005 Liberty League Novice Crew of the Year, while Chu and her assistant have been selected the conference’s Coaching Staff of the Year all three times the award has been presented.

Widely respected in the rowing community, Chu is a member of the Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association Board of Directors and the NCAA Regional Advisory Committee. In 2006, she began a four-year term on the NCAA Division III Championship Committee. A graduate of the NCAA Women Coaches' Academy, Chu also travels the country, teaching a coxing clinic called “Chu on This: We Make Coxswains Faster,” a comprehensive seminar geared for all levels of coxswains.

An active member of the campus community, Chu serves on several committees, including the Fisher Center Steering Committee.

A 1991 graduate of Princeton, she served as an intern coach for the Tiger women’s rowing team in 1998-99 before joining the Wildcats. With the Tigers, Chu helped lead the third varsity four to a third place finish at the EAWRC Sprints Championships and an eighth place finish at the NCAA Championships.

Chu competed as a coxswain for the Tiger varsity crew from 1988 to 1991. An All-Ivy League selection, she earned medals at the EAWRC Sprints Championships in 1989 and 1991 and at the Head of the Charles Regatta in 1990. She also was a 1997 Master’s National Champion.

An accomplished mentor, Chu has coached athletes who have rowed for the men’s and women’s junior U.S. National teams, as well as the Senior Mexican National Team.

Chu earned a master’s degree in English and creative writing from New York University in 1996, and has earned national recognition for her poems, which have been published in many journals and anthologies.

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