John Parker has been named the head coach of the Rutgers mens lightweight crew program.
"John is a tremendous addition to our staff," said Rutgers heavyweight head coach Steve Wagner. "His experiences as a collegiate and National Team coach, as well as an oarsman, will be a valuable asset for our entire program."
Parker has extensive coaching experience, both on the collegiate level as well as with the U.S. National Team. The coach of the U.S. lightweight coxless four in 2005, he led the heavyweight coxed pair to a world championship in 1999, and worked as an assistant with the world-champion U.S. heavyweight eight in 1998 and 1999. For those two years, Parker also served as an assistant with the heavyweight and lightweight coxless four and pair.
As the Columbia freshman lightweight coach (2004-2005), he led the Lions first freshmen to a bronze and the second freshmen to a silver at the 2005 Eastern Sprints. He served as freshmen coach/recruiting coordinator at the University of Washington from 1993-98, leading his crew to the 1997 IRA national championship, four undefeated seasons and Pac-10/Pacific Coast titles (1994-97), and the 1998 IRA national championship silver medal. Parker began his coaching career at his alma mater, Princeton, leading the Tigers to the 1993 Eastern Sprints first freshmen title and undefeated seasons in 1991 and 1993.
An accomplished oarsman in his own right, he helped lead the U.S. heavyweight eight to a fourth-place finish at the 1992 Olympics. A seven-time national champion, Parker rowed with the heavyweight eight (1989, fourth), the heavyweight coxed four (1991, seventh) and the heavyweight coxless pair (1993, ninth). He was a three-year varsity stroke at Princeton (1987-89), winning a bronze medal at the 1987 Eastern Sprints, and won the 1986 and 1987 heavyweight coxless pair titles at the Canadian Henley as a member of the Potomac Boat Club.
Parker earned a degree in history from Princeton in 1989, and completed a masters in fine arts at Penn in 2001.