After 10 years of intercollegiate coaching experience and a stint training with the U.S. Rowing national team, Andrew Hilton '99 is returning to his alma mater to coach the Big Green's freshman heavyweight crew team.
Under the guidance of heavyweight head coach Topher Bordeau and former freshman coach Eric Kratochvil, the crew program has gained a "new energy," Hilton said.
"I feel really privileged to be coming on board at this time," he said.
Kratochvil left the team at the start of the month to pursue a new career, according to Bordeau.
Hilton, who has coached at Deerfield Academy and at several universities including Harvard University, the University of Wisconsin, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the University of California, Berkeley brings experience on both sides of the recruiting process.
Hilton has worked in programs at varying levels of competition, which will be advantageous as Dartmouth strives to become even more competitive, Bordeau said.
Wisconsin is a program that largely develops talent, Bordeau explained, while U.C. Berkeley recruits "elite" talent.
Interning at Harvard, with renowned rowing coach Charley Butt who has led the Crimson for over 20 years, reignited a desire in Hilton to get back in the boat himself.
Hilton spent one year training with the U.S. Rowing national team and was able to compete with some of the best rowers in the country, he said.
Although Hilton then headed to Deerfield to begin coaching again, he said his time with the national team helped him enact what he had learned under Butt's tutelage.
"It helped me to a new standard athletically, and I developed a lot to test the theories and messages I learned from [Butt] at Harvard," he said. "It informed me as a rower and the way I coach now as well."
As an undergraduate at the Big Green, Hilton served as captain of the lightweight rowing team and led the squad to a third-place finish at the 1999 Intercollegiate Rowing Association national championship.
Hilton's association with Dartmouth and his knowledge of the College's unique advantages and challenges was a draw for Bordeau during the hiring process, he said.
"Perhaps most importantly, [Hilton] knows Dartmouth as an [alumnus], and he was part of very successful teams here," Bordeau said. "It comes down to a lot of really solid experience and I know him to be a very good person."
Bordeau added that he knows Hilton to be a "great teacher" of the rowing stroke.
The College attracts a certain type of student, Hilton explained the kind he said he likes to work with.
"There's a real appreciation for physical achievement," he said. "Whether it's intercollegiate athletics or the [Dartmouth Outing Club] or the [Dartmouth Organic Farm], I think people just love being outside and challenging themselves."
Perhaps due to the flexibility of the D-plan, Hilton added, Dartmouth students tend to take ownership of their education and are "interesting" and "less conventional."
Hilton added that the College's location is topographically "fantastic" for crew training, citing the proximity of the Connecticut River and the various opportunities for cross-training in cross-country skiing and running.
Hilton's role will be to coach the Big Green's freshmen heavyweights and assist with the varsity squad, according to Bordeau.
"I'm going to ask [the team members] what their goals are," Hilton said. "My goal for myself will be to help them realize their potential and to go as far and as forward as they want to go. I see my job as enabling them to reach their goals."
Bordeau said he wants to see the freshman squad win as many races as possible while developing in order to contribute to the varsity team as sophomores.
Many candidates were considered along with Hilton for the coaching position, Bordeau said.
"It's a real credit to the team's accomplishments just how much interest they attracted on the national and international levels," he said.
