Kirsten Girard

Kirsten Girard joined the staff in 2022 and is in her first season as assistant coach and recruiting coordinator.

She joins the Bears after serving as an assistant coach for the Loyola Marymount women's rowing team for the 2020-21 and 2021-22 seasons. Prior to that she served as the Novice Coach and Assistant Varsity Coach at Harvard University and the Head Novice High School Girls Coach at Arlington Belmont Crew.

Girard’s coaching experience also includes serving as an assistant coach for the Northwest Rowing Center in Vashon Island, Washington and teaching the basics of rowing as a Learn-to-Row Coach at Stanford University.

Prior to beginning her coaching career, Girard was a two-time SEC Academic Honor Roll and two-time Big 12 Academic All-Conference rower for the University of Tennessee, competing in the 1V8 boat for the Vols for all four years. Girard was a member of the Tennessee crew that finished second at the prestigious Head of the Charles Regatta in 2018, and she assisted the Vols in winning three bronze medals in the 1V8 event at the Big 12 Championships.

Girard earned her BS in Education with a concentration in Recreation and Sport Management, and minors in Business and Psychology from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville and the Institute for Rowing Leadership graduate program through Community Rowing in Boston which teaches coaches about all aspects of rowing coaching and program management, including subjects in sport science, team management and leadership.