The 2023 Ivy League and Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association (CRCA) D1 Region I Coach of the Year, Wesley Ng was hired as the University of Pennsylvania's Head Coach for Women's Rowing in July 2015. His tenure at Penn can certainly be qualified as a success to date, when you consider the following...
*Penn has 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.
*During the last two years, the Varsity Eight has gone 63-7 during the regular season while the 2V8 has gone 57-8 (including a staggering 29-1 in 2023, the only loss coming at Princeton in the final race of the regular season).
*Penn's Varsity Eight has 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.
*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.
*In 2016, Penn claimed the Orange Challenge Cup for the first time since 2012 and just the third time since 1995 with wins over Syracuse and Northeastern at the Doc Hosea Challenge in Saratoga, N.Y.
*Penn has won the Class of '89 Plaque from Cornell each of the last four times the race has been contested, just the third, fourth, fifth and sixth times in history the Quakers have held it. Prior to Ng's arrival, Penn had last earned the Plaque in 2007; the only other time they won it was 1994.
*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.
*In addition to his Coach of the Year honor, Ng along with his assistant coaches Kumari Lewis and Helen Samaniego were named the CRCA's Region I Staff of the Year (Division 1) following the 2023 spring season.
Ng also spent four years on the coaching staff of the United States Under-23 National Team and was head coach of the United States Women’s team at the 2015 and 2016 Under-23 World Rowing Championships. He led the U.S. to gold medals in the Eights (twice), the Fours, the Four-without-cox, and the pair. At the 2017 U-23 Worlds, he coached the U.S. pair to a bronze medal finish. Ng also was an assistant coach with the U.S. Women’s U-23 team in 2014, when they won three medals -- gold in the Eights and Four-without-cox, and silver in the pair.
Ng came to Boathouse Row from Trinity College in Hartford, Conn., where he spent nine years as the head women’s rowing coach. Under his leadership, the Bantams rowed at the NCAA Division III Championships every year and won their first NCAA team title in 2014. Following that, Ng was named the Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association (CRCA) Division III Coach of the Year, the ECAC Coach of the Year, the Joy of Sculling Collegiate Coach of the Year, and the USRowing Fan’s Choice Collegiate Coach of the Year.
Trinity’s Varsity 8 also won NCAA titles twice under Ng, in 2008 and 2015.
“Wesley set the bar for what Penn needs in its next head coach,” said Penn's Director of Athletics, M. Grace Calhoun, at the time of Ng's hiring. “He has a winning head coaching record, a proven ability to develop student-athletes, positive character traits, and experience as both an Ivy League student-athlete and coach. During the interview process, I also was impressed with how Wes thinks outside the box with his training methods and the use of technology. Wes is a rising star and a very sought-after coach, and we are lucky to have him lead our program.”
“It is a privilege and an honor to become a part of the tradition of the Penn women’s rowing program,” said Ng. “The passion of the alumnae, the past leadership of this program, and the focus of Penn Athletics has created a foundation that we can successfully build upon. I am deeply committed to creating an environment where we will gain speed and success. Great challenges create opportunities for personal and programmatic growth, and I am looking forward to working with our student-athletes to help them earn that growth and experience.
“I love the fact that we share a boathouse with the men’s heavyweight and lightweight programs,” he continued. “I believe that our current and future student-athletes should be inspired by that as they strive for excellence within the always-competitive Ivy League and nationally. When you combine the draw of the Ivy League student-athlete experience, the iconic Boathouse Row in the great rowing city of Philadelphia, and the value of a Penn education, I believe that package will resonate with past, current and future members of the Penn Women’s Rowing family."
Prior to taking over the Trinity women, Ng spent two years as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator for the Bantams’ men’s rowing program. His first college coaching experience came at his alma mater, Yale University, where he spent one year as an assistant coach with women’s rowing and one as the men’s lightweight freshman coach.
A 2002 Yale graduate with a bachelor’s degree in History, Ng rowed for the Bulldogs’ lightweight crew; he was a part of three EARC Sprints championships, and won the IRA National Championship as a senior. Ng was a part of three undefeated seasons in the freshman, junior varsity and Varsity 8 boats and also rowed at the prestigious Henley Royal Regatta.
Ng holds a USRowing Association Level III Coaching Advanced certification, and is a member of the NCAA’s Division III Rowing National Committee and the NCAA Regional Advisory Committee.
