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Sept. 23, 2009

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - A former coxswain for the University of Louisville rowing team, Becky Smith has been hired as an assistant coach with the Cardinals head coach Laura Aubrey announced on Wednesday.

Smith enters her first season as a full-time assistant coach with the Cardinals after previously serving as a graduate assistant and volunteer assistant with the program.

"Becky has been an asset to the program as an athlete, volunteer assistant and graduate assistant, and now as a full-time assistant coach," said Aubrey, who is entering her third season as the Cards' head coach. "It's a great honor to have her on our coaching staff and I know she'll continue to bring great things to the program."

Most recently, Smith spent the summer of 2009 working at the Princeton Rowing High Performance Camp, where she worked with high school rowers.

As a graduate assistant with the Cardinals in 2008-09, Smith served as the primary sports performance coach for the novice rowing team while also working with many of U of L's Olympic sports as an intern in the Sports Performance program.

During her first season as a graduate assistant with the Cards in 2007-08, Smith worked with both the varsity and novice teams in many capacities, including coaching, equipment management and team travel. As a volunteer assistant with U of L in 2006-07, she worked primarily with the novice team.

"Becky's greatest strength is her commitment to excellence," Aubrey said. "She takes great pride in making sure everything she does is done well and with 100 percent effort. She will serve as a great role model for the ladies on our team, helping them to see that hard work combined with passion and dedication will yield great success, both on and off the race course."

Prior to joining the coaching ranks, Smith was a member of the Louisville rowing program from 2004-06. After starting her career as a walk-on to the Cards' novice team in 2004 and earning the program's Novice Oarswoman of the Year Award in her first year, she went on to serve as the coxswain for Louisville's second varsity eight crew, which won the silver medal at the 2006 BIG EAST Championships.

Along with her contribution to the Cards' team runner-up trophy at the 2006 BIG EAST Championships, Smith also coxed Louisville's 2V8+ crew to the gold medal at the Southern Intercollegiate Rowing Association Championships in 2006, a key victory in U of L winning the overall team trophy at the event.

With a 4.0 GPA, Smith earned her undergraduate degree in Health and Human Performance with a concentration in Exercise Science from the University of Louisville in 2006 and then earned her master's degree in Exercise Physiology from U of L in 2009. Smith joins the Louisville coaching staff, along with Aubrey and third year assistant coach Andrea Buch, who also leads the Cards' novice rowing team.

"I'm extremely excited about the staff that we have in place for the upcoming season," Aubrey said. "Coach Buch continues to do great things with the novice/walk-on program while also bringing in some of the largest and most talented recruiting classes in the program's history. It's a great privilege to work with such a passionate and energetic coaching staff and I look forward to an exciting year."

The Cardinals will open the fall racing season on Saturday at the Lemonhead Regatta in Bloomington, Ind.