Previn Chandraratna Named Head Women's Rowing Coach
LOS ANGELES – UCLA has named Previn Chandraratna as head coach of the women's rowing program, as announced on Friday by Martin Jarmond, UCLA's Alice and Nahum Lainer Family Director of Athletics.
Chandraratna served as the Bruins' interim head coach during the 2021-22 academic year.
"Previn stepped up for our program as the interim head coach," Jarmond said. "I am excited for the future of UCLA rowing and grateful for Previn's leadership and commitment to the student-athlete experience."
Chandraratna has coached at UCLA for the past seven seasons, spending his first six years as an assistant coach. He was promoted to the position of associate head coach prior the 2018-19 school year.
"This is a tremendous opportunity, and I am extremely grateful to continue leading our rowing program," Chandraratna said. "I would like to thank Martin Jarmond, as well as associate athletic director Derek Doolittle, for their trust in me and our coaching staff. This university is such a special place, and our rowing program has limitless potential. I look forward to working with our student-athletes to continue driving this program forward."
The Bruins' 2021-22 rowing season was highlighted by a solid varsity eight crew that defeated USC to open the season and finished ahead of No. 19-ranked Washington State to close the spring campaign. As a program, UCLA had been ranked as high as No. 17 midway through the year.
"Previn has worked diligently during his interim season, developing a strong foundation for the future of this program," Doolittle said. "He has a tremendous passion toward the development of student-athletes, and we are excited to work with him as he continues building this program."
A graduate of Columbia University, Chandraratna has coached for over 20 years. While at UCLA, he oversaw all of the program's recruiting efforts during his three seasons as the associate head coach. He joined the Bruins' coaching staff in 2015 after three years as an assistant coach with the women's rowing program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), where he helped the program to achieve its strongest finish in program history. From 1999 through 2003, Chandraratna was the heavyweight men's assistant coach at Columbia, helping the program achieve a national ranking as high as No. 9.
Chandraratna helped UCLA's 2021 squad to second varsity eight wins against USC in all three matchups. The Bruins' second varsity eight crew finished in fourth place at the Pac-12 Championships after an unusual pandemic-altered year. UCLA was ranked as high as No. 14 in the national top-20 rankings that season.
In addition to his time coaching at UCLA, MIT and Columbia, Chandraratna served for 10 years in a scholastic coaching role, working with Row New York and Pelham Community Rowing. As the Director of Programs at Row New York, he helped the program win the prestigious US Rowing Anita de Frantz Golden Oars Award. Chandraratna was also a founding member of the US Rowing Task Force on Access, Affordability and Diversity.
As a rower, Chandraratna earned Most Valuable Player honors as the stroke seat and captain of the heavyweight program at Columbia. He also trained with the U.S. National Team at the National Sculling Center in Augusta, Ga.
Chandraratna earned his bachelor's and master's degrees in international relations from Columbia University. He earned a second master's degree in sports leadership from Northeastern University in 2017.