FAIRFIELD, Conn. – Stephen Baranoski has been named Associate Director of Rowing and Head Men's Rowing Coach at Fairfield University. The announcement was made by Vice President for Athletics Paul Schlickmann.

"We are excited to welcome Coach Baranoski as our Associate Director of Rowing and Head Coach of Men's Rowing," Schlickmann said. "His knowledge and experience across all levels of rowing will enhance our program and build upon the success the team has achieved in recent years. His approach to coaching lends itself to our mission of providing a holistic experience for our student-athletes which will prepare them for success in all aspects of their education here at Fairfield."

Baranoski brings more than a decade of coaching and competitive rowing experience to Fairfield University. He has coached at both the collegiate and club levels, while also competing for Marietta College and various clubs in Philadelphia and Boston during and after his collegiate career.

Baranoski began his collegiate coaching career in 2011 as an assistant men's and women's coach and recruiting director at Wesleyan University, where he guided both programs to success at the New England Championships, ECAC, and NCAA regattas. He went on to serve as head coach and director of rowing for the Old Lyme Rowing Association and spent time coaching and training at the Craftsbury Outdoor Center in Vermont. He later held leadership roles at Princeton National Rowing Association/Mercer as the head girls' varsity youth coach and head masters coach for both men and women.

From 2016 to 2019, Baranoski was an assistant coach at the University of San Diego and also coached at the San Diego Rowing Club before returning to the East Coast. Most recently, he served as the assistant varsity coach at Connecticut Boat Club beginning in the spring of 2024.

Now at Fairfield, Baranoski will lead the men's rowing program and build on the momentum established last spring, when the Stags earned silver in the novice eight at the Dad Vail Regatta and captured gold in the novice four and novice eight at the Metropolitan Championships.

"I'm thrilled to join Fairfield University and to begin working with a dedicated group of student-athletes," Baranoski said. "Their commitment to the sports and to this program is inspiring, and I'm excited to contribute to their growth and success in the new age of Fairfield Men's Rowing."

"I am so excited to have Steve join the Stags rowing program," Director of Rowing Dr. David Patterson said. "I truly believe he is the right candidate to take the program from where it is currently to where we strive to go in the future. Steve will take on this position and guide a group of young men who are ready to move on an upward trajectory and become prominent in the landscape of men's collegiate rowing."

Baranoski earned his B.A. in Education and Political Science from Marietta College and went on to receive his Juris Doctor from Quinnipiac University.