Navy Lightweight Crew Coaches

In 2001, his first year as the Navy head lightweight crew coach, Rob Friedrich led the varsity lightweight eight to an undefeated regular season with wins over Princeton, Harvard, Rutgers, Penn, and Georgetown. The varsity eight went on to place second at the IRA National Championship, losing to Yale by one foot. Meanwhile, Friedrich's second varsity won the gold medal at the Eastern Sprints for the first time since 1963 and the first freshmen eight finished off an almost undefeated season, placing second at the Sprints.

For his efforts, Friedrich was named Navy Coach of the Year by United States Naval Academy Foundation.

Before coming to Navy Friedrich, spent three years as the head lightweight crew coach at Rutgers University, his alma mater. He was named 1999 Eastern Association of Rowing Colleges Lightweight Crew Coach of the Year when his first varsity boat placed second at the IRA National Championship and his second varsity boat placed second in the Eastern Sprint Championship.

In the Summers of 2001 and 2002 he also served as an assistant coach for the U.S. Women's National Team.

A 1997 graduate of Rutgers, Friedrich captained the program's lightweight crew team as a senior and was twice named the team's most valuable athlete. In 1997, after placing fourth his junior year, he struck gold by winning the lightweight collegiate event at the C.R.A.S.H.-B World Indoor Rowing Championships. After graduation, Friedrich continued his rowing career by training on the U.S. National Team in both '97 and '98. As a member of the US team, his lightweight straight four placed fifth at the Under-23 World Championships in Milan, Italy.

A native of Long Island, NY, Friedrich attended Friends Academy HS and rowed for Sagamore RA before attending Rutgers where he received a Bachelor’s degree of Arts in Journalism.

PLEBE COACH: NICK BAKER

Nick Baker is in his first year as the USNA Plebe Lightweight Rowing Coach. Nick comes to Navy from Yale University where he spent the last year as the Men's Heavyweight Assistant Varsity Coach. While assisting Head Coach John Pescatore at Yale, Nick became the primary coach for the heavyweight third varsity who finished the year undefeated while winning the Eastern Sprints by nearly three seconds.

Over the past two summers, Nick has been head coach of both the Women's Senior and Youth Programs at the West Side Rowing Club in Buffalo, NY. While at West Side he also served a year as the Director of Rowing Operations.

Nick is a graduate of the State University of New York at Buffalo where he became captain and president of the UB Rowing Team. While in college, he also captained the West Side Rowing Club's lightweight squad during the summers of 2000 and 2001 when he won two U.S. Club National Championships and four Canadian Henley Championships. During that time Nick was awarded West Side's Broderick Plate, the highest individual award presented annually to a male athlete for character, leadership and sportsmanship.

After graduating, Nick began his coaching career in Philadelphia for Vesper Boat Club and St. Joseph's Preparatory School, all the while training as an elite lightweight rower at Vesper and the Penn Athletic Club.

ASSISTANT COACH: LCDR TOM CALLENDER

LCDR Callender is a volunteer assistant whose main duties are to coach the third and fourth varsity boats and help with the plebe squad. In 2001, he served as the coach for the first freshmen eight which earned a silver medal at the Eastern Sprints after finishing an undefeated regular season.

LCDR Callender graduated from USNA in 1990 after rowing in the Varsity Lightweight eight for three years and serving as team captain in his first class year. A native of Liverpool, NY, LCDR Callender rowed for Liverpool High School and Syracuse Chargers Rowing Club before attending USNA.

After graduating from USNA with a B.S. in Physics, LCDR Callender entered the nuclear submarine pipeline. Following completion of his junior officer sea tour aboard USS CITY OF CORPUS CHRISTI (SSN-705) in New London, CT, LCDR Callender served as an intelligence analyst at the Office of Naval Intelligence in Washington, DC. He recently reported to USNA after completing a tour as the Engineer Officer on USS ALBANY (SSN-753).