Derek Byrnes enters his second season as head coach of the Stanford lightweight rowing team.

Byrnes was announced as the second head coach in Stanford lightweight rowing history on Oct. 10, 2014.

The first season for the program under Byrnes could not have gone much better. He was named the CRCA National Coach of the Year and IRA Women's Lightweight Coach of the Year after leading the team to its fifth IRA National Championship with titles in both the varsity eight and varsity four. The varsity eight was named the IRA National Crew of the Year after winning the national title for the fifth time to cap an undefeated spring season with wins in all 11 races. The varsity four won its first IRA championship in school history. Stanford was the first school to ever win both the eight and four in the same season at IRA’s. As a result three student-athletes were named to the Pocock All-America team.

Along with the success at the IRA National Championships in 2015, Byrnes also led the varsity eight to gold medals at the San Diego Crew Classic, WIRA Championships and Pacific Coast Rowing Championships. The second varsity eight and novice eight also won events at the WIRA Championships.  

Byrnes came to The Farm from across the East bay where he spent five years as the Director of Competitive Rowing and head coach of the women’s varsity team for the Oakland Strokes.

It was his second stint with the Oakland Strokes as he was also with the club from 2001-06 as the women’s varsity coach before leaving to be the head coach for the Los Gatos Rowing Club women’s varsity from 2006-09.

The 2014 American Junior Rowing Conference Coach of the Year, Byrnes helped lead the Oakland Strokes to national championships in the lightweight 8+ and varsity 8+. His club won four championships at the Southwest Regional Junior Championships. The coach of the year honor was the third of his career. He was also honored in 2005 and 2012. 

Over the course of his coaching career he led his teams to eight USRowing Youth National Championships in the lightweight 8+ and four in the women’s varsity 8+. His lightweight 8+ finished first or second in seven of the past eight years, while the women’s varsity 8+ won two of the last three championships.

He is a three-time Henley Women’s Regatta Peabody Cup Champion and his 2005 women’s varsity eight was recognized as “One of the greatest junior crews of all time.”

While with the Oakland Strokes he helped increase an annual roster of 160 to its current size of over 220 student-athletes. He served as a supervisor, counselor, leader and mentor for both the student-athletes and coaches in the program.

Byrnes has served the last three years on the USRowing Youth Advisory Committee and was a presenter at the 2013 Saratoga Junior Coaching Conference and 2012 USRowing Annual Convention.

Byrnes attended college at the University of California, Santa Barbara from 1992-95. He received a bachelor’s degree in psychology.

He currently lives in Berkeley with his wife Michele, daughter Sadie and son Liam.