Cornell University Athletics

Hilary Gehman, a six-time member of the U.S. national rowing team and a two-time Olympian who served as the interim head coach of the Cornell women’s crew in 2006-07, was named the Staley Head Coach of Women’s Rowing in July 2007.

After taking over the program during the spring of 2007, Gehman’s varsity boats have showed steady improvement in both times and results, with the 2009-10 season proving to be the best to date.

A well-respected coach in the rowing community, Gehman has been selected to run the U.S. Rowing Women’s National Team Freshman Camp twice (2008, 2009) and was the coach of the U23 Quad that placed fourth at the 2010 World Rowing championships.

Last season, Gehman was named the Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association Mid-Atlantic Coach of the Year. In just her fourth season at the helm of the program, she directed the Big Red to its first national ranking since May 5, 2004, when the team came in at No. 20 in the USRowing/Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association NCAA Division I Coaches poll on April 15. In the final poll of the regular season, the Big Red placed 18th and narrowly missed out on a berth to the NCAA tournament.

Following the season, Erica Crump ’11 and Cecelia Madsen ’12 earned CRCA All Mid-Atlantic Region first-team honors, while Taylor Goetzinger ’12 was named to the second-team. Additionally, seven Cornellians were named CRCA National Scholar-Athletes. 

In the 2008-09 campaign, she led the Cornell varsity-8 to a 2-8 record, while the jayvee and novice boats fared better with a 3-7 and 6-8 record, respectively. The varsity-8 crew took 11th at the Eastern Sprints, while the novice boat found its way to the medal podium with a third place finish in the grand finals.

Under Gehman’s tutelage, Crump was named to the Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association (CRCA) All-Mid-Atlantic Region first-team.

In 2007-08, the Big Red finished in the top 10 at Eastern Sprints for the first time since 2004, placing ninth overall. Her junior varsity boat was even stronger, placing sixth overall and making the grand finals.

Gehman served as the Big Red women’s novice rowing coach for two and a half seasons after being hired in 2004. In her two seasons with the Big Red, the novice women combined for an 11-6 record.

Gehman was the voice of the Olympic 4X in Athens, serving as crew leader in training sessions and during races. Her fifth-place finish at the 2004 Games mirrored her performance in the quad at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney.

A two-time Olympian, Gehman has also raced on four U.S. national teams in the women’s quad, earning a bronze medal in 2001. A competitor at numerous World Cup stops with the U.S. team, Gehman and her crewmates have captured four bronze medals at four international regattas since 1999, and her quad earned the gold medal at the 2003 Munich World Cup. In competitions at the national level, Gehman won the double sculls at the 2001 and 2002 Head of the Charles regattas and finished second in 2003.

Gehman earned coaching experience in the competitive EAWRC while serving as the assistant coach at Georgetown from 2000-03, and her first novice boat captured the Big East title in 2001. Prior to her time in the nation’s capital, Gehman was the head men’s and women’s rowing coach at Lewis and Clark College in Portland, Ore., from 1996-98, overseeing 60 student-athletes.

A native of Wolfeboro, N.H., Gehman graduated from Colby College in 1993 with a bachelor’s degree in sociology. She was a four-year member of the Mules’ club rowing team, as the sport was elevated to varsity status the season following her graduation.

Gehman is an exceptional all-around athlete whose national team career and active lifestyle make her a role model for Cornell’s undergraduates. She still logs many miles in her single and on the ergometer, but she has diversified her training by competing in The Birkebeiner, a 51km cross country ski marathon held in Hayward, Wis. In warm weather she enjoys swimming across Cayuga Lake, and she has successfully completed two half ironman triathlones (the Tupper Lake Tinman and the Musselman Half Iron).

Gehman is married to former national team member and current heavyweight rowing assistant coach Matt Smith.