Department Head/Director of Athletics, Jullie Soriero, has announced the hiring of Holly Metcalf as the new varsity women's openweight crew head coach at MIT. Metcalf returns to the collegiate ranks after establishing several successful non-profit organizations.
Metcalf was a six-time member of the U.S. National Team and won five World Championship and Olympic medals. At the 1984 Olympics she captured the Gold Medal in the women's eight. She has coached extensively at the club, college, and national team levels, including stints at Radcliffe College and Mount Holyoke College. Metcalf also directed the Silver-medal winning crew at the 1990 World Championships.
During her hiatus from coaching, Metcalf used rowing to enrich the lives of hundreds of women and girls through a variety of non-profit programs. In 1994, she founded Row As One Institute which provides masters women with top-level coaching. Metcalf was among the first to take older women seriously as rowing athletes and provided the support they needed to reach their athletic potential. She extended this concept to inner-city girls in 1996 with her G-ROW program which is based at Community Rowing, Inc. in Watertown, Mass. Six years later Metcalf established WeCanRow, a wellness and rehabilitation organization for cancer survivors. Due to its success, it has recently evolved into WeCanRow National which will assist the development of similar programs throughout the country.
Tony Kilbridge, MIT's Director of Rowing, said "Holly's decision to return to full-time coaching coincided with our search for a top-level coach to head our openweight women's program. I couldn't be happier that she has joined our staff, and I look forward to watching her crews this year."