Smith College Athletics

Karen Klinger has been the head coach of crew since 1997. A 1987 graduate of Smith, Klinger competed nationally and internationally in rowing, winning a gold medal in the 1991 Pan Am Games in Havana and participating in the 1992 Olympic trials.

Prior to returning to Smith, Klinger coached successfully at Brookline High School, Tufts University, Northeastern University and the University of Delaware. Under her guidance, the Pioneers have begun to dominate Seven Sisters and NEWMAC competition (with 8 conference wins in 13 years), and in 1998, 2002, 2004-06, and 2009 participated in the NCAA Rowing Championships with the team finishing second in the country in Division III in 2004 and 2005, fourth in 2006, and sixth in 2009.

Klinger has been a member of US Rowing since 1983, the Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association (CRCA) Board of Directors since 1999, serving as President from 2002-06, and has been CRCA secretary since 2012.  She was a member of the NCAA Division III Rowing committee from 2005-2009, and is serving a second term beginning in 2013. She currently serves as a member of the New England Championships and ECAC Regatta Seeding Committees. Klinger was named NEWMAC Coach of the Year for 1999, 2002, 2005, 2006, and 2009. In 2002 she also was chosen Division III Rowing Coach of the Year by the CRCA membership. In 2005 and 2010, she was named the Smith College Coach of the Year.