ALBANY, N.Y. – The University at Albany rowing program welcomes Erin Czupil and Sarah Siegel to its staff. Czupil joins as the team's assistant coach and Siegel joins as a coaching assistant.

"I am thrilled to welcome Erin and Sarah to the UAlbany rowing coaching staff," said head coach Kim Chavers. "They bring a wealth of knowledge and experience that will be invaluable in supporting the mentorship and development of our student-athletes as we launch this new program. Their commitment to fostering a positive and high-performance environment will be instrumental in helping our team grow and succeed both on and off the water."

Czupil has coached at both the high school and club levels in the Capital Region. Most recently, she served as the varsity boys head rowing coach at Burnt Hills-Ballston Lake High School and the Erie Canal Athletic Club. Erie Canal was established with the help of Czupil in 2022 and is comprised of athletes from multiple local high schools. Under her leadership, the Burnt Hills varsity quad earned two state championships and the program's first National Scholastic Championship. 

Previously, Czupil was a varsity assistant coach at Niskayuna High School, where she helped in leading the program to multiple state, Stotesbury, and national titles. During the challenging COVID-19 pandemic, she demonstrated innovation by implementing remote training programs that kept the athletes engaged and active during the shutdown. 

Czupil joins the UAlbany staff with Division I athletic experience at the University of Iowa. She was a four-year letter winner and was recognized as the Most Valuable Rower in 2013. During her time at Iowa, she contributed to the success of the program both on and off the water. She also served as a representative on Iowa's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC), serving as a link between the team, administration and surrounding community.

"I'm honored to be a part of the staff that is going to bring UAlbany rowing to the Division I stage," Czupil said. "We have a great group of athletes and coaches who are ready to put in the work to build the foundation for the future of this program."

Czupil graduated in 2015 with a degree in Health and Human Physiology and minors in Human Relations and Psychology.

Siegel joins the staff after coming across the country from California. She has been an asset to the Pacific Rowing Club in San Francisco for years, originally serving as the first-assistant rowing coach for middle school crew (2019-2023) before taking on an additional role as the first-assistant rowing coach for men's varsity crew (2021-2024). There, she oversaw the training of over 30 athletes and was also responsible for managing equipment sharing and regatta organization and attendance. Before joining the Pacific Rowing Club, Siegel served as the freshman rowing coach for women's crew at St. Ignatius College Preparatory in San Francisco.

Siegel's own rowing background started at the Division I level as a walk-on athlete for Stanford University's Lightweight Women's Rowing team. Similarly to Czupil, she served on the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee and helped facilitate the annual GameFACES event to promote mental health and well-being in the student-athlete population on campus.

Siegel received her B.A. in psychology and English literature from Stanford University in 2019 and earned her M.F.A. in writing from San Francisco in 2022. She is currently a student in the Clinical Psychology program at UAlbany working on identifying social and cognitive risk and resilience factors for eating disorders in athletes.

"I'm delighted to join the Women's Rowing staff at UAlbany," said Siegel. "This is a team of women, for women, and I'm honored to play a small part in fostering the program's success from the ground up."

Stay up to date with UAlbany rowing by following the team on X (@UAlbanyRowing) and Instagram (@ualbanyrowing) for all of the latest news and highlights throughout the year.