PRINCETON, N.J. – Texas Rowing head coach Dave O’Neill has been named the 2022 USRowing Man of the Year, the organization’s Board of Directors announced on Thursday. The award is given in recognition of outstanding contributions to men’s rowing and/or to an outstanding man in rowing.
Now in his eighth year as head coach at Texas, O’Neill has turned UT into a perennial national contender, leading the Longhorns to back-to-back NCAA titles in 2021 and 2022. In addition, he coached an all-Texas women’s four to a gold medal at the 2022 World Rowing Under 23 Championships in Varese, Italy. For his efforts, O’Neill has been named the 2022 USRowing Man of the Year.
Since arriving in Austin, O’Neill has led the Longhorns to seven consecutive Big 12 Conference Championships and five consecutive top-four NCAA Championship finishes. While at Texas, he has been named Big 12 Coach of the Year six times, Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association (CRCA) Regional Coach of the Year five times, and CRCA National Coach of the Year in 2015, 2021, and 2022.
All told, O’Neill has led his teams to the NCAA Championships in each of his last 23 seasons as a collegiate head coach, including 16 years at the California. He has been named the CRCA National Coach of the Year a record five times, Regional Coach of the Year nine times and has led the National Staff of the Year three times (2015, 2021, 2022).
He has also served as a coach for Team USA several times at both the under 23 and senior levels. He was the under 23 women’s team lead coach in 2006, 2007, and 2014, while his women’s four won the silver medal at the 2009 World Rowing Championships. O’Neill is a 1991 graduate of Boston College.
O’Neill will be recognized with the other award recipients at the 2023 USRowing Annual Convention, scheduled to take place February 3-5, 2023, in Atlantic City, N.J. More details to be announced in January 2023.
USRowing 2022 Annual Award Winners
Man of the Year – Dave O’Neill
USRowing Medal of Honor – Matt Smith
Jack Kelly Award – Bruce Beall
John J. Carlin Service Award – Margot Zalkind Mayor
Anita DeFrantz Award – Richard Butler
Isabel Bohn Award – Angela Madsen
Clayton Chapman Award – Leslie Pfeil
Ernestine Bayer Award – Carol Schoenecker
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