PHILADELPHIA – The University of Pennsylvania's head women's rowing coach, Wesley Ng, has announced his resignation to take the head coaching job at the University of Virginia.
 
"Leaving Penn is bittersweet, as I reflect on the incredible journey of the last nine years," said Ng, who was named Penn's head coach in July of 2015. "I am proud of what we have accomplished together, from earning the program's first NCAA team bids to competing internationally at Henley for the first time, to working with our alums to complete the Burk-Bergman Boathouse. The program is more vital than ever, and with such broad support from the Penn Rowing community the future is incredibly bright.
 
"I want to extend my deepest gratitude to the student-athletes, their families, and my fellow coaches for allowing me to play a part in this meaningful effort. Your dedication, hard work, and passion for making our boats go fast together will be a common thread that binds you together for years to come. For my wife Kate, my son AJ, and me, Penn Women's Rowing has been an unforgettable and enormous part of our lives and will always hold a special place in our hearts."
 
"I am grateful to Wes for all his efforts leading our women's rowing program to national prominence," said Alanna Wren, the T. Gibbs Kane, Jr. W'69 Director of Athletics and Recreation. "He is leaving Penn women's rowing in a better place than he found it, and the program's infrastructure, including the renovated Burk-Bergman Boathouse, will make this an appealing opportunity for the next leader. I wish Wes and his family nothing but the best of luck in his next chapter in Charlottesville."
 
Ng was the Ivy League and Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association (CRCA) D1 Region I Coach of the Year following the 2023 spring season, and that same year he and his assistant coaches Kumari Lewis and Helen Samaniego was named the CRCA's Region I Staff of the Year (Division 1). Ng's tenure saw the program ascend to previously unreached heights, among them…
 
*Penn qualified for the NCAA Championship each of the last three years, the first three times the Quakers have qualified as a team. (Penn had a Four compete at the 1998 Championship). After tying for 11th place with SMU in 2022 with 72 points, Penn improved its standing to sixth with 92 points in 2023. In that 2023 Championship, the Quakers' Varsity Eight finished fourth, the Second Varsity Eight took ninth, and the Varsity Four bettered its placement from the previous year by finishing 16th. The Quakers had another top-10 finish in 2024 and made history as all three boats earned top-12 finishes, the 1V8 finishing 10th and the 2V8 and V4A beating their pre-race seeds by taking 10th and 11th, respectively.

*Penn's Varsity Eight earned its first three medals in program history at the Ivy League Championship, taking second in 2023 and 2024 and third in 2018, while the Second Varsity Eight earned bronze in 2022 and 2023. In 2023, Penn finished third in both the overall (66) and NCAA boat (38) point standings at Ivies.

*During the last two years, the Varsity Eight went 63-7 during the regular season while the 2V8 went 57-8 (including a staggering 29-1 in 2023, the only loss coming at Princeton in the final race of the regular season).

*Penn made its debut at both the Henley Women's Regatta and Henley Royal Regatta in 2023, with the Quakers' Varsity Eight advancing all the way to the Island Challenge Cup final at the Royal Regatta before falling by the closest of margins to British University champion Oxford Brookes in the title race.

*Penn has had ten women earn CRCA All-America honors, with Josie Konopka and Samy Morton becoming just the second and third women in program history to be named first-team All-America.
 
*The program's student-athletes have totaled 75 CRCA National Scholar Athlete recognitions during his tenure including a program-high 14 in 2023 and at least 12 every year since 2021.


The search for a new head women's rowing coach will begin immediately.