Shawn Bagnall enters his 12th season as head coach of the lightweight rowing team in 2024-25.
As Navy Head Coach:
Bagnall took the reigns of the Navy lightweight program in the summer of 2013 ... In his first year at the helm in 2013-14, both of Navy’s varsity eight and varsity four boats competed at the IRA National Championships for the first time since 2011 ... The program finished the season ranked seventh in the nation ... Defeated Georgetown for the Forster Cup and Penn for the Callow Cup ... As a second-year leader of the lightweight program in 2014-15, Bagnall once again had multiple crews qualify and race at the IRAs ... In 2015, Navy was represented with entries in the V8, V4+ and V4- events ... Navy’s V8 crew finished eighth overall at the IRAs ... 2016 saw Bagnall and the Mids return to the IRAs with three crews: the V8, V4+ and V4-... The 2016 Navy V8 boat finished seventh overall at the championship ... For the first time since 2008, Navy defeated Harvard for the Haines Trophy ...The Mids continued to hold the Forster Cup over Georgetown with the third straight win of Bagnall’s tenure ... In his fourth season in 2017, Bagnall and the Mids earned regular season wins over Princeton, Columbia and Georgetown before winning the 4V and 5V titles at the Eastern Sprints ... At the IRA National Championships, Navy entered V8, V4+ and V4- and collected the program’s first individual boat title since 2012 when the V4+ finished in first place ... The program continued growing under Bagnall in 2018 as the Mids were victorious in the Callow and Forster Cup events before placing third in the Jope Cup team standings at the Eastern Sprints and later third in the team standings at the IRA National Championship ... Individually, the Mids V4- came in first at the IRAs ... In the final USRowing Collegiate poll of the year Navy ranked fifth ... Bagnall and the Mids hit even more goals in 2019 as the team was bestowed the EARC's Rusty Callow Award. The prestigious honor is presented each year by the EARC to the crew that best personified the virtues of "spirit, courage and unity." The Mids first varsity eight crew earned the Rusty Callow Award after their impressive effort at the Eastern Sprints. Navy's V8 was originally seeded seventh coming into the championship and outperformed those projections placing third in the grand final. The bronze marked the first varsity eight medal for Navy at the Eastern Sprints since 2006 ... As a program at the Sprints, Navy placed third in the Jope Cup standings as five of the Mids' six crews finished in the top-three of their respective classifications. The Mids' 3V8 came in first place overall in its event ... At the IRA Championship, Navy tied for second with Princeton in the team standings with 57 points as its V4+ and V4- teams won gold medals, while its V8 placed sixth in the field ... 2020 - Navy was ranked sixth in the nation in the Preseason IRA/USRowing Coaches’ Poll before the season was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic in mid-March ... The program was recognized with the 2020 Academic Dean and Provost of the United States Naval Academy Team Sports Award for posting a cumulative team GPA of 3.47 over its 66-person roster ... Senior Kaden Dohm graduated as the USNA Class of 2020 Valedictorian ... 2021 - Guiding the program through a COVID-impacted season, Bagnall and the Mids went 4-1 in the regular season before dominating the field at the 2021 IRA National Championship where Navy swept the V8, 2V8 and V4- races ... The Mids' V8 captured the 1922 Trophy for the first time since 2004 ... With their program sweep, the Mids also captured the Men's Lightweight Points Trophy for the first time in the history of the award ... Bagnall was recognized as both the 2021 IRA and IRCA Lightweight Coach of the Year ... For the second straight year, Navy was honored with the Academic Dean and Provost of the United States Naval Academy Team Sports Award for posting a cumulative team GPA of 3.54 for their 58-person roster ... 2022 - Getting back into the swing of a normal regular season slate, Bagnall and the Navy Lights went 6-1 in six contests with five wins over top-nine opponents. That success resulted in Navy finishing the regular season ranked second in the country ... In the postseason, the Mids tied atop the team standings at both the Eastern Sprints and the IRA National Championship, unfortunately they dropped a tie-breaker to Yale at the Sprints and to Columbia at the IRAs. Navy's 4V and 5V won gold, while it's 1V and 2V took home silver at the Eastern Sprints. At the IRAs, Navy's 2V and V4 were victorious ... As a program, the team was recognized with the USNA's Provost Award for Academic Excellence for the third straight year with a combined GPA of 3.46. Additionally, lightweight rower Will Jarrett graduated as the Class of 2022 Valedictorian ... 2023 - The Mids turned in a solid regular season with four victories, including trophy wins over Columbia (WIT Cup) and Georgetown (Forester Cup) before turning their attention to the postseason ... In Worcester at the Eastern Sprints, the program collected four top-three podium finishes: 5V8 (gold), 4V8 (silver), V8 and 3V8 (bronze), while at the IRAs, Navy finished tied for third in the team point standings on the strength of both the V8 and 2V8 coming in fourth in the nation ... In international competition, the Navy lights were represented on Team USA for the 2023 Under-23 World Rowing Championships by Jackson Fuller ('23) and Mason Banks ('25), who won gold in the 2- event in Plovdiv, Bulgaria in July ... Successful off the water again, the Navy lightweights took home the USNA's Provost Award for Academic Excellence for the fourth straight year with a combined GPA of 3.50 ... 2024 - Highlights of the regular season included trophy wins over Yale for the Johnson Cup and Columbia for the WIT Cup ... In the postseason, Navy finished sixth in the Jope Cup team points standings at the Eastern Sprints and sixth at the IRA National Championship ... Robby Klanac graduated as the Class of 2024 Valedictorian.
As Syracuse Assistant Coach:
Worked primarily with the freshmen crews in addition to serving as the program's recruiting coordinator ... In 2012, the varsity crew included two members of Bagnall's freshmen boat from the previous year; the duo helped the Orange take fifth at the IRA National Championships, which was the program's best finish in 22 years ... In 2011, he guided his freshmen crew to a 10th-place finish at the Eastern Sprints and helped the varsity boat take ninth at the IRA National Championships.
As Gonzaga Freshmen/Novice Coach:
Served for eight years as the men's freshmen/novice coach, junior varsity coach and recruiting coordinator ... Bagnall led the Bulldogs freshmen/novice four to a Western Intercollegiate Rowing Association (WIRA) championship in 2010 ... He also guided the freshmen eight to 13th and 15th-place finishes, respectively, at the 2008 and 2009 IRA Regattas ... In 2006, Bagnall helped the freshmen eight claim its first bid to the IRA Regatta.
As Washington State Club Coach:
Took over the club program's top spot in 2000 ... At the helm of the Cougars, he helped improve the competition level and athlete retention rates for the club sport program.
International Experience:
Since 2011 he has worked as an assistant coach with the U.S. Under-23 Women's National Team ... Bagnall helped the women's 8+ boat to consecutive gold medals at the 2012 and `13 U-23 World Championships ... He also served as head coach of the women's 4- and 2- at the 2012 and '13 Under-23 World Championships.
Rowing Experience:
Enjoyed a successful career as a varsity rower from 1996-99 ... As team captain, he was an All-Pacific-10 Conference selection in 1998
General:
Received his bachelor's degree in psychology from WSU in 1999 and completed his master's degree in sport and athletic administration at Gonzaga in 2009
