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Rodney Pratt is the second-longest tenured men's crew coach in program history, beginning his 18th year as head coach of men's crew at Boston University.
The 2007 crew finished the year with a 5-4 record. The varsity finished second in the Petite Final, while rowing with an entirely different line-up than the dual season. Pratt guided the Terriers to their first Arlett Cup win in seven years and to a successful defense of the Bill Cup as well.
In the summer of 2007, varsity rowers Meindert Klem and Jozef Klaassen each competed in the Rowing World Cup in early July. Klem placed 10th in the heavy quad and Klaassen 10th in the heavy pair. Alumnus Florian Mennigen won gold in the coxed fours. Senior Chris Klotzbach earned a spot on the U.S. U-23 National Team in the lightweight 4x, while Klem and sophomore Milos Nikolic competed for the Netherlands in the 2x and Serbia in the lightweight 2-, respectively.
Mennigen and fellow alumnus Will Daly finished third and fifth in the coxed fours and lightweight eight, respectively, in the 2007 FISA World Rowing Championships as well.
While at Boston University, Pratt has been instrumental in maintaining the traditions and standards associated with Boston University men's crew, as well as consistently growing and improving the program.
Pratt earned the Eastern Association of Rowing College (EARC)'s 2005 Coach of the Year honor after leading his heavyweight team to its best-ever finish at the Eastern Sprints in May, 2004. The men's varsity eight, seeded ninth, finished fourth overall in the Grand Final. With their fourth-place finish, a fifth in the freshmen eights, and an eighth in the second varsity event, the Terriers had their best overall finish ever in the history of the Sprints and a fourth-place finish in the Rowe Cup.
The Terriers' 2005 spring campaign also included wins over Syracuse, Rutgers, Columbia, Wisconsin and MIT, while their only losses came to Northeastern in the Arlett Cup, Dartmouth in a tri-race at Rutgers and Brown in a dual. In the process, BU earned its first Jablonic Cup (versus Wisconsin and MIT) since 1995.
In 1999, Pratt saw a dream realized when the B.L. and Alice DeWolfe Boathouse was dedicated. Pratt was a catalyst in the great fundraising effort to build this magnificent Charles River landmark as it now stands.
He began rowing in his native England, competing for Sidney Sussex College at Cambridge University, several club crews, and for Scotland in the Senior "B" Internationals. Pratt is no stranger to other aspects of university life. He earned a Ph.D. in biochemistry from Cambridge University, matriculating there in 1971. Pratt came to the United States as a post-doctoral fellow at the University of Wisconsin.
Rowing lured him out of the laboratory and into the coaching launch at Mendota Rowing Club. He was instrumental in turning this club from an informal group to one of the finest junior rowing programs in the nation. Pratt left Wisconsin in 1986 to coach full-time at the U.S. Naval Academy. While at Navy, Rodney was able to lead his freshmen crews to several medals at the Eastern Sprints and the IRAs. |
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