NEW HAVEN, Conn. – Olympic gold medalist and Yale alum, Dan Williamson '23, is set to return to Yale as an assistant coach, announced by Mike Gennaro, Craig W. Johnson '68 Head Coach of Heavyweight Crew.
 
"Dan will be an extraordinary addition to our staff and I am confident that he will make a positive impact on the lives of our student-athletes," said Gennaro on Williamson's hiring. "I had the pleasure of recruiting Dan to Yale and coaching him during his time here. It has been such a joy watching his rowing career develop over the years and I am so thrilled to welcome Dan back home at Yale."

Williamson is a two-time Olympian for New Zealand, competing in Tokyo in 2021, and Paris in 2024. At the Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Williamson won a gold medal for New Zealand in the men's eight. He was the youngest member of that crew, and the only oarsmen in all categories to win an Olympic gold medal while still competing at the NCAA/USA university level. New Zealand's gold medal in the event was the first time in nearly 50 years.
 
He has represented his country at the highest level on numerous occasions and amassed accolades that speak volumes to him as a competitor. In addition to his Olympic success, Williamson has won:

• Under-18 2- New Zealand National Champion
• Under-20 2- New Zealand National Champion
• Under-22 2- New Zealand National Champion
• Under-22 4- New Zealand National Champion
• Silver Medal in the M4- at the 2017 World Rowing Championships
• Silver Medal in the Premier 2- at the 2021 New Zealand National Championships
• Silver Medal in the Premier 8+ at the 2021 New Zealand National Championships
• Bronze Medal in the M4- at the 2018 World Rowing Under-23 Championships

"I couldn't be more excited to be joining the Yale coaching staff and rejoining the Yale community," said Williamson. "Both Coach Gennaro and Coach LaLiberte already make for an exceptional coaching staff; as an athlete at Yale, I benefited immensely from their guidance, and I am incredibly eager to now learn from and work alongside them both in a coaching capacity to help grow our oarsmen. Yale is a unique place; I have never come across a team environment quite like it. It is truly a pleasure to be returning and I cannot wait to start working with the team."

The Auckland, New Zealand native had a tremendous collegiate career for the Bulldogs. He was the first, first-year oarsmen at Yale to sit in the stroke seat of the winning Varsity 8 boat and was a member of the 2019 and 2022 IRA National Championship-winning crews. In his senior year, Williamson was a member of a Bulldogs squad that helped Yale win its seventh-consecutive Eastern Sprints title and Ivy League Championship.

In 2022, Williamson sat in the stroke of Yale's first varsity boat and led the crew to a second-place, silver-medal finish at the IRA National Championships. That very same year, the Bulldogs won the historic four-mile race against Harvard while setting a course record as well as went undefeated in regular season cup races.
 
As a first year in 2019 Williamson sat in the stroke seat of the Yale first varsity boat. He led the crew to an undefeated season, winning the IRA National Championships along with the four-mile race vs. Harvard, the Eastern Sprints and Ivy League Championships, and all the regular season cup races. 
 
To cap off a tremendous collegiate career, Williamson was lauded with one of Yale Athletics' most prestigious awards, the William Neely Mallory Award. The award is presented to the senior man who on the field of play and in life at Yale best represents the highest ideals of American sportsmanship and Yale tradition.