Courtesy: Fred Klein Greg Hughes holds the Temple Challenge Cup after leading the 2009 lightweights to a Henley Royal Regatta championship.

Greg Hughes ’96, who led the Princeton men’s lightweight crew to 2009 championships at Eastern Sprints, the IRA nationals and the Henley Royal Regatta, has been named the new head coach of Princeton heavyweight crew, it was announced July 30 by Director of Athletics Gary Walters ’67. Hughes replaces Curtis Jordan, the winningest coach in Princeton rowing history, who retired after the 2009 season.

“We are delighted to announce that Greg Hughes '96 will become the new head coach of heavyweight rowing,” Walters said. “Greg established his bona fides with his successful stint as our lightweight coach, culminating in this past year's team confronting every challenge and winning every race. The rowing program is fortunate to have such a strong line-up of men’s and women’s coaches representing Princeton at the Shea Rowing Center, a Mecca for collegiate rowing.”

Hughes, a former Ivy League and national champion rower with the Princeton men’s lightweights, took over as head coach of the men’s lightweight crew in 2006, following the retirement of his former coach, Joe Murtaugh. In his first year, Hughes turned a team that had gone 2-7 in consecutive seasons into a program that went 5-3 and earned a bronze medal at nationals.

In each of the next three seasons, Princeton’s winning percentage would improve, and the Orange and Black would win at least one medal at either the EARC or IRA championships. In 2008, the Tigers rose to No. 1 in the national rankings, won its first Goldthwait Cup over Harvard and Yale since 1999 and placed second at the Eastern championships.

All of that would be an appetizer for what was to come in 2009. The preseason No. 1 team in the nation, Princeton recorded its first perfect season since 1999 and won each regular-season race by at least three seconds. The Tigers went to the Eastern championships and won its first EARC/Ivy League title since 2003 and followed with its first IRA national championship since 1998. It was only the fourth time in program history the men’s lightweights swept both postseason races.

But that wasn’t the end of the story. Princeton went on to the prestigious Royal Henley Regatta and competed in the Temple Challenge Cup. After three wins and a hard-fought victory over Neurus (Netherlands) in the semifinals, Princeton took on the EARC champion Brown freshman boat in the final. The Tigers held off the heavyweight program by ¾ of a length to win the Henley crown and become only the second American collegiate lightweight program to win at Henley since 1973. For Hughes, it was his second career victory at Henley.

“It’s an honor to become Princeton's head heavyweight coach,” Hughes said. “Princeton’s boathouse is very special to me and mostly thanks to Curtis.  I am excited that I have been given the opportunity to further Curtis's legacy.

“It wasn't easy an easy decision,” Hughes added. “This group of Princeton Lights has given me four of the most enjoyable and rewarding years of my life.  They are great kids and they know how to win. The athletes themselves are the key to the lightweight team's recent success and they will continue to show their speed in the
years to come.”

Prior to his current position, Hughes served as the assistant/novice coach for the Tiger men’s heavyweights. His freshman boat won the Eastern Sprints in 1998 and 2003 and went undefeated in both the 2002 and 2003 regular seasons. Hughes’ squad finished the 2003 season in grand style, claiming the Eastern Sprint title, the IRA national title and, finally, the Temple Challenge Cup at the Henley Royal Regatta in England. Six of those rowers were in Princeton’s first varsity boat that won the Head of the Charles, the Eastern Sprints and the Henley Royal Regatta in the 2005-06 season.

In eight years as the head freshman coach at Princeton, his boat was a perfect 16 for 16 in reaching grand finals at both the Eastern Sprints and IRAs.

In 1999, Hughes co-coached the U.S. lightweight men’s 2- and the heavyweight 2+ at the World Championships, with the latter winning the gold. He co-coached the U.S. men’s eight and the men’s pair at the Under-23 World Championships in 2000, where the eight won a bronze medal. The next year, Hughes assisted Murtaugh in coaching the U.S. lightweight eight that won bronze at the World Championships. In 2002, Hughes coached the Under-23 men’s eight to a gold and the pair to a bronze at the World Championships. He also led the U.S. 4+ to a bronze medal at the 2004 World Championships. In 2005, Hughes coached the US men’s 4- which finished 4th at the Under-23 Worlds.

Hughes was a four-year lightweight rower under Murtaugh. A 1996 Princeton graduate, Hughes was undefeated in all of his four regular seasons and won two Eastern Sprints titles. He was an All-Ivy League rower on the 1994 and 1996 national championship lightweight crews. He served as team captain in 1996 and won the Gordon G. Sikes Award for the greatest contribution to Princeton lightweight crew. He would go on to be an alternate for both the 1997 and 1998 lightweight U.S. national teams.

Hughes replaces Jordan, who won a program record 129 races with the Tiger heavyweights and added 55 wins with the open crew. Jordan won seven Ivy League and three national championships at Princeton over his time with both programs.

“Most of what I have learned as a coach has come from Curtis,” Hughes said. “He is a leader, he is a mentor, but most of all, he is a great person. There is a selflessness in everything that he does. He has always made sound decisions as a coach and he has treated everyone with honesty and integrity. He is competitive and he produces winners, but win or not, Curtis and his team act with class when the racing is through. These traits have become a part of the legacy of Princeton Rowing.  Building on that legacy will be a very special and rewarding challenge and it is an honor to have been given this opportunity.”