Former Olympian Nancy Haberland is now in her 20th season as a member of the Navy offshore sailing coaching staff in 2024-25, being promoted to associate head coach in April 2024. She also served as the program's interim head coach from June 2024 to February 2025.
Starting her coaching career at the Academy as an assistant dinghy coach and junior varsity offshore sailing coach, Haberland has worked with hundreds of midshipmen over the years, teaching them how to work as a team and providing leadership opportunities as a beginning to their career as a Naval Officer.
Prior to joining the Academy as a coach, Haberland had previous spent several seasons at J/World.
Since winning her first national championship at age 14, the Northbrook, Illinois native has gone on to win 18 national and seven world championships in her own sailing career. Haberland is a seven-time nominee for Rolex Yachtswoman of the Year and 12-time member of the US Sailing Team. Notably, in 2019, she was the first woman to win the US Masters National Championship in the International Sunfish Class Association.
Participating in three Olympics, Haberland's first experience was as a training partner in the Europe Dinghy for the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Spain and her second time was as an athlete in the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece. Additionally, in 2008, she was selected by her Olympian peers to be the athlete representative at the Paralympic Games in Beijing, China.
When not coaching the Midshipmen, Haberland competes in international Women's Match race events and local triathlons.
