Iona College Director of Athletics Patrick Lyons announced the appointment of Dr. David Patterson as head coach of the men's and women's rowing programs. Patterson becomes the first full-time head rowing coach in school history.
"We are extremely fortunate to have someone with Dave’s experience and education to continue to build on the wonderful tradition of Iona Crew," said Lyons. "This is a very exciting time for Iona Crew. With the addition of rowing tanks in the soon to be completed Hynes Athletics Center, the future is extremely bright."
Patterson comes to New Rochelle from Smith College in Northampton, MA where he served as an assistant varsity coach and then head novice coach of the women's program. While coaching at Smith, the women's team won several individual events at races such at the Seven Sisters Championship, ECAC Championship and New England Championship as well as second place finishes at the NCAA Division III Championships in back-to-back seasons. Patterson also served as a teaching fellow while earning a Master's degree in Exercise and Sport Studies at Smith.
Prior to Smith, Patterson also had experience in the coaching ranks in the United Kingdom at The Queens College of Oxford University in England and University of Edinburgh in Scotland. He also spent three years in the United States at Binghamton University and coached at the Hiawatha Island Boat Club in Apalachin, NY.
From 1993-99, Patterson was a member of Edinburgh University Boat Club while rowing in the men's 4+ and 8+ events. In 1999, he performed for Scotland's National Team at the Home Countries International Regatta in Cork, Ireland. He was also a member of the Hiawatha Island Boat Club while serving as a volunteer coach.
In addition to his degree from Smith, Patterson also holds an MA in Linguistics, an MSc in Cognitive Science and Natural Language Processing and a PhD in Linguistics from the University of Edinburgh.
A native of London, England, Patterson resides in New Rochelle.
