With three national titles, five Ivy League titles and two EAWRC coach of the year awards already under his belt, Cornell crew coach Dan Roock decided it was time to take a "few years" off from coaching full time.
After only a one-year hiatus, however, Roock has returned to coaching Ivy League crew, and will now lead the Dartmouth lightweight squad.
"I was going to take a couple years off, but decided to jump at the job, because Dartmouth is such a good place to coach rowing," Roock said.
Roock, who himself has the same number of national titles as Dartmouth does Ivy League titles in lightweight crew, graduated from Princeton in 1981 where, as a senior, his teammates awarded him the Lyman W. Biddle Medal for sportsmanship and dedication.
When asked what such awards and championships meant to him Roock pointed instead to the importance of his teammates and athletes.
"The recognitions and awards are good, but you are only as good as the people you have to work with," he said.
In 1990, Roock became head women's crew coach at Princeton, where he compiled a 59-2 record over six years. His team earned three national titles and five Ivy titles.
At Princeton, Roock put his first mark on crew at Dartmouth, recruiting and coaching current Big Green head women's crew coach Wendy Levash.
Lightweight crew captain Nick Dawe '10 said the team has taken notice of Roock's previous accomplishments.
"He has a lot of knowledge about the sport and is very experienced," he said. "Going into the boathouse, we are all very excited, having seen his resume."
In 1996, Roock left Princeton to coach men's heavyweight crew for 12 years at Cornell.
He then took time off to coach players trying out for the U-23 National team who were not originally invited to try out for the team.
Four of his trainees made the team over those who were invited to try out including three whom Roock had also coached at Cornell. Roock was then chosen to coach the National team, and guided the United States to fifth place at the World Championships.
Acting Athletic Director Bob Ceplikas said he thought Roock was suited for the job due to his experience of coaching at two other Ivy League institutions.
Roock will use his experience gained from coaching women's and heavyweight crews to lend help to all of Dartmouth's crew teams not just the lightweights, Ceplikas said.
The job at Dartmouth will mark Roock's first stint coaching a lightweight squad.
"It's going to be a lot more technique and rowing well-oriented than [Roock] might be used to," Dawe said. "But given his background and his vast knowledge of rowing, he should be fine"
Roock will be taking a back-to-basics approach to preparing the lightweight team for the spring rowing season.
"We are going to attack the fundamentals right away," he said. "If they do that, we'll have the speed to be competitive."
The rowers are already buying into Roock's philosophy, according to captain Josh Patch '09 Th'10.
"We have complete trust in him," Patch said. "All we have to do is do what he says, and we will be good."
Dawe said he thinks the team will adapt well with the transition from one coach to another.
"Every coach is different, but [Roock] has a lot of knowledge about the sport," Dawe said. "He is very experienced."
Roock said he is optimistic for the team's chances this season.
"The team has a positive attitude," he said. "They are excited and eager. I don't know the fiber of them just yet though."
Roock will find out soon, though, as the lightweight crew started practicing Monday in preparation for its first race at the Head of the Charles on Oct. 18 in Boston, Mass.
