In 2024-25, Niles Garratt is in his eighth season on the Stanford men's rowing coaching staff.
Among the biggest highlights during that span was developing Peter Chatain into an Olympic-level rower. Chatain was invited to join the U.S. senior national team after the 2023 collegiate season and went on to win an Olympic bronze medal as part of the U.S. eights that competed in the Paris Games.
Stanford's first varsity eight has reached the IRA Championships semifinals three times in the past four seasons and the Cardinal has finished among the top 20 in the Ten Eyck standings for 16 consecutive seasons.
Among Stanford's individual honors and accomplishments, James Fetter arrived at Stanford as a walk-on without any competitive rowing experience and developed into one of the best single scullers in the world in three years, placing eighth at the 2024 World Under-23 Championships after his junior year.
Travis Senf earned first-team All-America honors in 2024 and Caspar Griffin was named Pac-12 Co-Newcomer of the Year in 2023 and earned a silver medal in the 4+ for Great Britain at the 2023 World U23 Championships.
In 2021, Stanford reached the Grand Final at the IRA Championships, finishing fifth in the eight for its best finish since 2009. Four rowers earned All-America honors from the Intercollegiate Rowing Coaches Association. Chatain and Trey Holterman were named to the first team while Flynn Traeger and James Wright earned second-team honors. Chatain was named the Pac-12 Men's Rowing Athlete of the Year.
Though his first Stanford season was canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Chatain, Nikita Lilichenko, and James Wright were named to USRowing's U23 national team selection camp.
Garratt served as the interim head coach for the final two months of the 2019 season. He arrived at Stanford in August, 2017, after serving as an assistant coach at Washington.
A native of Seattle, Garratt joined the Huskies’ staff as an intern assistant coach in December, 2014. In his first year, Garratt coached an undefeated freshmen eight that won the 2014 IRA championship by nearly six seconds. Garratt coached Washington’s varsity four to another IRA championship.
In 2015, Garratt worked as a graduate assistant coach and was hired as a full-time assistant coach in 2016 after coaching the second varsity eight to a national championship.
Before coaching at Washington, Garratt studied history at Cambridge University and rowed in the Blue Boat in both the 2012 and 2013 Cambridge-Oxford Boat Races, winning in 2012.
During his collegiate career at Washington, Garratt won four IRA championships, was a member of four Ten Eyck Trophy-winning teams and never lost his Washington tank. While at Washington, Garratt double majored in history and political science and was named to multiple Pac-10/12 All-Academic teams.
Garratt attended Shorecrest High School in Shoreline, Washington, where he was part of the swimming and diving team for three years, including team captain as a senior. Garratt rowed for Green Lake Crew in the four years he attended Shorecrest, finishing his senior year with a second-place finish at the USRowing Youth National Championships in the men's youth 8+ and served as team captain. In the summers after his last three years of high school, Garratt rowed for the Northwest Development Camp, winning the junior 8+ at the 2007 Club National Championships.