Sandra Chu was named the head coach of William Smith rowing in July of 2002, following three seasons as an assistant coach of women’s rowing at Kansas State. The 2012 CRCA Division III Coach of the Year has led the Herons to nine Liberty League Championships, including six in a row, and eight NCAA Championship appearances.
In her 17 seasons at the helm, Chu has made a sizeable impact on the Heron rowing program. She has mentored 26 CRCA All-Americans, including 13 first team selections, while guiding William Smith to six NCAA Championship bids as a team and two as an at-large eight.
Perhaps more impressive than the team's on-the-water accomplishments are William Smith's academic accolades. Chu's Herons have earned 174 Liberty League All-Academic nods, 68 CRCA Scholar-Athlete awards, and three CoSIDA Academic All-Americans®.
Since 2004, the Herons have garnered the Liberty League Crew of the Year eight times and the Liberty League Novice Crew of the Year nine times, while Chu and her assistant have been selected the conference’s Coaching Staff of the Year eight times. Additionally, Chu was voted the ECAC Women's Coach of the Year by her peers following the 2012 ECAC NIRC.
In addition to the team's success at the conference and national level, the Herons have earned 24 medals, including nine golds, at the New York State Championships under Chu's watchful eye.
Widely respected in the rowing community, Chu is a former member of the CRCA Board of Directors, the NCAA Regional Advisory Committee, and the NCAA Division III Championship Committee. A graduate of the NCAA Women Coaches' Academy, she also travels the country, teaching a coxing clinic called “Chu on This: We Make Coxswains Faster,” a comprehensive seminar geared for all levels of coxswains.
An active member of the campus community, Chu serves on several committees, including the Middle States Accreditation Committee. She has also served as an instructor for the Hobart and William Smith Leadership Institute.
A 1991 graduate of Princeton, she served as an intern coach for the Tiger women’s rowing team in 1998-99 before joining the Wildcats. With the Tigers, Chu helped lead the third varsity four to a third place finish at the EAWRC Sprints Championships and an eighth place finish at the NCAA Championships.
Chu competed as a coxswain for the Tiger varsity crew from 1988 to 1991. An All-Ivy League selection, she earned medals at the EAWRC Sprints Championships in 1989 and 1991 and at the Head of the Charles Regatta in 1990. She was a 1997 Master’s National Champion, earned a gold medal in the Women's D8+ at the 2006 FISA World Masters Regatta, and secured another gold medal at the 2010 FISA World Masters Regatta.
An accomplished mentor, Chu has coached athletes who have rowed for the men’s and women’s junior U.S. National teams, as well as the Senior Mexican National Team.
Chu earned a master’s degree in English and creative writing from New York University in 1996, and has earned national recognition for her poems, which have been published in many journals and anthologies.
