Olympic rower Susan Francia joined the Stanford lightweight program as a volunteer assistant coach in 2019.
Francia came to Stanford after 10 years of rowing for the U.S. team. She won gold at both the 2008 and 2012 Olympic Games in the women's 8+. She earned five world championship titles and attained a No. 2 world ranking among female rowers for three years. In 2008 and 2009, she was voted to the Crew of the Year by World Rowing. In 2010, she was awarded the Female Athlete of the Year by her peers.
After her career as an Olympic rower, Francia was the head coach of the San Diego Rowing Club for four years prior to joining UC San Diego. At SDRC, her rowers achieved bronze in the 4x in 2014 and 2015 and silver in the 2- in 2016 at the Youth Nationals. While at UCSD, her crews reached the NCAA Championships every year and won silver in the Varsity 8+ in Division II in 2018.
Francia was a member of the 2019 U.S. Under-23 Rowing coaching staff as well as the 2015 U.S. Junior Rowing Team. As coach of the U.S. junior women's 8+, she ran selection and training for the boat that ultimately won bronze at the Junior World Championships in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Francia is an alum of the University of Pennsylvania, graduating cum laude in 2004 with a degree in sociology of law and deviance, and a master’s in science in criminology. She also earned a master’s in business administration from UCLA in 2018.
Francia came to Stanford after 10 years of rowing for the U.S. team. She won gold at both the 2008 and 2012 Olympic Games in the women's 8+. She earned five world championship titles and attained a No. 2 world ranking among female rowers for three years. In 2008 and 2009, she was voted to the Crew of the Year by World Rowing. In 2010, she was awarded the Female Athlete of the Year by her peers.
After her career as an Olympic rower, Francia was the head coach of the San Diego Rowing Club for four years prior to joining UC San Diego. At SDRC, her rowers achieved bronze in the 4x in 2014 and 2015 and silver in the 2- in 2016 at the Youth Nationals. While at UCSD, her crews reached the NCAA Championships every year and won silver in the Varsity 8+ in Division II in 2018.
Francia was a member of the 2019 U.S. Under-23 Rowing coaching staff as well as the 2015 U.S. Junior Rowing Team. As coach of the U.S. junior women's 8+, she ran selection and training for the boat that ultimately won bronze at the Junior World Championships in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Francia is an alum of the University of Pennsylvania, graduating cum laude in 2004 with a degree in sociology of law and deviance, and a master’s in science in criminology. She also earned a master’s in business administration from UCLA in 2018.