Derek Byrnes enters his ninth season as Stanford’s Farwell Family Director of Women’s Rowing in 2024-25.
Byrnes has led the Cardinal to seven top-6 NCAA finishes, including the 2023 NCAA Championship, in first his eight seasons at the helm of the program (2020 championship canceled due to COVID-19 pandemic). In his tenure, Byrnes has led the program in a multitude of ways, helping cement the Cardinal's status as the top women's rowing program in the country.
Stanford continued its reign as one of the nation’s best rowing teams throughout the 2024 season, winning its third straight Pac-12 Championship and registering its fourth consecutive top-two finish at the National Championships. The 2024 NCAA Runner-Ups earned three podium finishes at the national championship regatta for the first time since the 2021 season and just the second time in program history, highlighted by a national championship title in the second varsity eight.
Stanford's three-peat at the Pac-12 Conference Championships was led by wins in all scoring races by at least five seconds over its conference foes, finishing the day with the regatta's maximum 45.5 points. The Cardinal's dominance led to a nine-and-a-half-point victory over second-place California.
Under Byrnes, the Cardinal has secured four straight Pac-12 Scholar-Athlete of the Year honors, led by this year's selection of Belle Battistoni. Stanford is the only school to ever win the women's Pac-12 Conference scholar-athlete award four years in a row since the honor was created for the 2007-08 academic year. Additionally, the Cardinal swept the Pac-12's end-of-year honors (Newcomer of the Year, Athlete of the Year, Coach of the Year) for the third consecutive season, making Byrnes one of only five conference coaches to ever earn the award (Coach of the Year) in three consecutive campaigns.
The Cardinal made its mark on rowing's biggest stage during the 2023 season, earning its first team national championship since 2009 while earning its second consecutive Pac-12 Team Championship. Byrnes' success as the Cardinal's head coach was seen on and off the water, as for the sixth consecutive season, five Cardinal women's rowers were named 2023 Pocock Racing Shells All-America Athletes, and senior Annabelle Bachmann was named the 2023 Pac-12 Women's Rowing Scholar-Athlete of the Year. For his national championship season, Byrnes was named the 2023 Pac-12 Coach of the Year, 2023 CRCA Coach of the Year, and his staff was named the 2023 CRCA Staff of the Year.
With Byrnes at the helm, Stanford women's rowing continued its success as one of the top women's rowing programs in the country during the 2022 campaign. The 2022 Pac-12 Coach of the Year led Stanford to produce a runner-up finish for the second consecutive season at the 2022 NCAA Championships. With its second-place finish, the Cardinal recorded its 13th consecutive top-10 finish at the national championship regatta. 2022 also saw Stanford win the program's first conference title since 2014 at the Pac-12 Championships held at Dexter Lake. Stanford won the title by two-and-a-half points, ending Washington's four-year streak of conference titles. Stanford women's rowing swept the end-of-year awards from the Pac-12, led by Azja Czajkowski's Athlete of the Year honor. Iris Klok was named the Pac-12 Women's Rowing Newcomer of the Year. Czajkowski, Esther Briz Zamorano, Katelin Gildersleeve and Caroline Ricksen earned All-Pac-12 accolades for their strong performances in the 2022 season. Five Cardinal women's rowers were named 2022 Pocock Racing Shells All-America Athletes, as Briz Zamorano, Czajkowski, Gildersleeve, and Ricksen each earned first-team honors. Fifth-year Kaitlyn Kynast was honored with second-team accolades. Additionally, the program earned its first-ever CoSIDA First Team Academic All-America honor, won by fifth year senior Grace McGinley. The award honors an elite student-athlete in the classroom and on the water.
In 2021, Byrnes led the openweight program to national prominence with second-place results at the NCAA and Pac-12 Championships, including a Pac-12 title in the varsity four. The second-place team finish at the NCAA championship was the best Stanford result since 2011, while each of the Cardinal boats finished in the top two for the first time in program history.
The 2020 season was cut short by the COVID-19 pandemic, but Stanford was ranked No. 2 in the CRCA preseason poll and finished as the top collegiate boat in the championship eights at the Head of the Charles on Oct. 20, 2019.
Other highlights from the shortened season included four Cardinal receiving ceremonial invitations to the USRowing under-23 selection camp, 17 named CRCA Scholar-Athletes, and 24 named to the Pac-12 Academic Honor Roll.
In 2019, Stanford captured fourth at the NCAA Championships and second at the Pac-12 Championships.
At the NCAA regatta, the varsity four placed second, matching the program's highest finish in that race, and the varsity eight was fourth. At Pac-12's, Stanford was second in all four races.
Byrnes had four rowers recognized on the All-Pac-12 team, including conference Newcomer of the Year Kelsey McGinley. Also, 21 earned Pac-12 All-Academic honors and four were invited to USRowing's under-23 selection camp.
In 2018, Stanford also took fourth at nationals, and was sixth in 2017, Byrnes' first season.
After two IRA Championship campaigns as the lightweight head coach from 2015-16, Byrnes was promoted to oversee both women's rowing program's at Stanford.
Byrnes boasted national championships in each of his two years as head of the Stanford women's lightweight rowing program.
A two-time CRCA National Coach of the Year and two-time Intercollegiate Rowing Association Women’s Lightweight Coach of the Year, Byrnes guided the Cardinal’s lightweight program to IRA team titles in 2015 and 2016.
Under Byrnes’ direction, the Stanford lightweight varsity eight never lost a race en route to winning the IRA crown in each of his two years as head coach. He also led the lightweight four to its first national championship in school history. The program produced six CRCA All-Americans over two seasons.
Byrnes was a finalist for the Positive Coaching Alliance Double-Goal Coach Award. In his two years at the helm of the Stanford lightweight program, 10 student-athletes were recognized as CRCA Scholar-Athletes. The program boasted the fifth-best team grade-point average (3.59) in the country for the 2014-15 academic year.
Byrnes arrived at Stanford in the fall of 2014, following a tenure as the Director of Competitive Rowing and head coach of the women’s varsity crew for the Oakland Strokes.
A three-time American Junior Rowing Coach of the Year, Byrnes enjoyed two stints with the Strokes (2001-06 and 2010-14) and served as the head coach of the women’s varsity eight at the Los Gatos Rowing Club from 2007-09.
He helped increase the Strokes’ annual roster from 160 to more than 220 youth rowers while providing oversight as a supervisor, counselor and mentor for both the rowers and coaches.
He guided the Strokes to national championships in the lightweight eight and varsity eight. With Byrnes at the helm, the club captured 33 titles over 13 years at the Southwest Regional Junior Championships.
He led teams to 12 USRowing youth national championships. Byrnes guided the varsity eight to a top-two finish seven times and the lightweight eight to a top-two finish 11 times at the youth nationals.
Byrnes is one of only three coaches to coach boats to a youth national championship in both varsity eight events in the same season, achieving the feat in 2005, 2012, and 2014.
Byrnes is also a three-time Henley Women’s Regatta Peabody Cup champion and his 2005 women’s varsity eight was recognized by at least one expert as, “One of the greatest junior crews of all time.”
He served on the USRowing Youth Advisory Committee for three years (2012-14), advising the governing body on priorities of youth programs and services. He has also been a presenter at the USRowing annual convention (2012) and Saratoga Junior Coaching Conference (2013).
Byrnes attended UC Santa Barbara, earning his degree in psychology.
Byrnes and his wife, Michele, have a daughter, Sadie, and son, Liam.