Sands is entering his seventh season as an assistant coach in 2021-22.
Hired as the lightweight program's assistant coach in August of 2015 Sands brings with him over 10 years of high-level collegiate competition as both a coach and student-athlete.
Last year in 2021, Sands helped lead the program through a COVID-impacted season that culminated with a dominant performance at the 2021 IRA National Championship where the Mids swept the V8, 2V8 and V4- events ... With their program sweep, the Mids captured the Men's Lightweight Points Trophy for the first time in the history of the award ... For his work with the program's lower boats, Sands was honored with the IRCA Lightweight Crew Staff of the Year award ... Sands and the Mids’ 2020 campaign was cut short during the preseason due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Coming into the season, Navy was ranked sixth in the preseason coaches’ poll ... In his fourth season working with the Mids in Hubbard Hall, Sands was at the forefront of development for Navy's lower boats as the V4+ and V4- each came away with gold medals at the 2019 IRA National Championships; overall Navy tied for second in the team standings ... Earlier in the postseason, Navy's 3V placed first at the Eastern Sprints, while is 4V, 5V and 6V all crossed the finish line in its respective events in the top-three to help the program come in third in the Jope Standings ... In 2018, Sands continued improving the depth of the Navy program as the Mids’ 3V, 4V and 5V all placed in the top-two at the Eastern Sprints with the 5V winning goal; as a program, Navy placed third in the Jope Cup standings ... At the IRAs, Navy’s V4- came in first place, netting the program it’s second straight IRA title ... In his second season with the Mids in 2017 the Mids’ 4V and 5V crews finished in first place overall at the Eastern Sprints ... At the IRAs, Sands led the Mids V4+ crew to a national championship winning performance ... As a first-year coach at Navy in 2016, Sands worked with the younger rowers and lower boats to help the program groom its depth ... At the 2016 Eastern Sprints, Navy’s 4V and 5V crews finished top-four with the fourth boat taking the silver medal ... As a program, Navy’s depth helped it fifth in the Jope Cup standings.
Sands came to the Naval Academy after serving on staff at the University of Texas in the role of boatman for the varsity women’s program during the 2014 and 2015 seasons. In his final season in Austin, the Longhorns finished seventh in the country at the NCAA Championships, the highest placement by a Texas rowing squad at the national championship in school history. In recognition of the Longhorns’ success, Sands and the other members of the staff were selected as the Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association National Division One Staff of the Year.
Prior to Texas, Sands was an assistant coach with the Penn heavyweight team from 2011 to 2013 after holding the same position with the George Washington heavyweight squad from 2007 to 2010. With the Quakers, he helped with recruiting and organizing official visits, as well as gathering talent and coaching walk-ons from Penn’s campus. Sands’ varsity four crew in 2013 came in first place at the Eastern Sprints, earning the program’s first medal of any kind at the Sprints since 2006. As a member of the Colonials’ staff, Sands led the freshmen program and saw GW reach new heights with a ninth place finish at the Eastern Sprints in 2009. Sands’ freshman crew finished the 2008 season with a 7-1 duel racing record.
Away from the collegiate ranks, Sands was a head coach at the US Rowing Olympic Men’s Development Camp at the University of Pennsylvania and at the Mid-Atlantic region between 2008 and 2013. He also served as head coach of the women’s USRowing Development Camp at the University of Texas during the summer of 2015. Highlights from his time with USRowing include coaching both sculling and sweep boats to medal winning performances at the USRowing Club National Championships and Royal Canadian Henley Regatta.
A 2007 graduate of the University of Wisconsin at Madison, Sands was a four-year member of the Badgers’ heavyweight crew program. In his first year, Sands served as a coxswain on the freshman eight, coxing his crew to an undefeated duel season record. Over next three years, he began rowing, capturing several Midwest Championships titles as part of the nationally-ranked heavyweight squad. He graduated from Wisconsin with a degree in political science. After college, Sands trained as a lightweight for several short stints at Riverside boat club in Boston, Massachusetts and the Pennsylvania Athletic Club in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
