University of Tennessee Athletics
Lisa Glenn Welcomes Wendy Davis to Rowing Staff
August 29, 2019 | Rowing
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- University of Tennessee's head rowing coach Lisa Glenn announced Thursday that former University of Minnesota head coach Wendy Davis has joined her staff as an assistant coach.
"I am very excited to be here," Davis said. "This is such a great program. I have known Lisa for 19 years and have respected her for that long. To be able to join forces with her really is a dream come true for me."
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Davis comes to Rocky Top after coaching at Minnesota from 2000-19. She is responsible for the startup of the varsity rowing program at UMN.
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"Wendy has been a respected associate for many years," Glenn said. "I've enjoyed watching her develop the Minnesota program and am happy to have her focus fixed on Tennessee at this time. The Tennessee women will benefit from her wisdom and passion for the sport. I anticipate some good times sharing the launch with Wendy."
High points from her head coaching role at Minnesota include a second-place finish at the Big 10 Championship in 2006, followed up by a first-place title at the Big 10 Championship in 2007. The team also finished sixth in the 2007 NCAA Championships, highlighted by a first-place title by the Second Varsity Eight squad.
Davis has collected a plethora of honors along the way, with a shared Big 10 Coach of the Year award in 2006, followed up by being named the Big 10 and Central Region Coach of the Year in 2007. During 2008, she was also named Minnesota's Women's Coach of the Year along with her squad earning Minnesota's Team of the Year honors.
Prior to her time at UMN, Davis started her coaching career in 1983 as the women's rowing novice coach at Stanford University. The team finished third at the Collegiate National Championships in 1984 and were Pac-10 champions after an undefeated season in 1988. Also during her time there, the team was in the top three at the Pac-10 Championship every year except for one season.
During her time at Stanford, she was also the head coach of the United States Junior Women's Sculling development in 1988. Davis developed and trained junior women in sculling, which resulted in first-place finishes in both the junior double and quad events at the U.S. Junior National Championships.
Davis eventually held the head coach role at Stanford from 1991-93, which included a second-place finish from the Varsity Eight at the Pacific Coast Rowing Championships in 1992. After her experience on the West Coast, she became the head coach at Yale University from 1993-97.
At Yale, Davis coached her squad to No. 2 in the nation at the Collegiate National Championships as well as a second-place finish at the Head of the Charles Regatta in the Championships Eight event in 1994. During 1997, the team placed fifth at the NCAA Rowing Championships and Davis oversaw the largest squad size ever carried at Yale from 1995-97.
After her tenure at Yale, Davis was a personal coach for U.S. National Team Olympic hopefuls from 1997-2000. She was responsible for training rowers with the objective of medaling for the United States in the 2000 Summer Olympics.
Davis is a graduate from the UCLA after earning her bachelor of arts in Spanish and linguistics in 1982.
The Tennessee rowing team starts the fall season on Oct. 19 with the Head of the Charles Regatta in Boston, Mass., and the Secret City Head Race in Oak Ridge, Tenn.
