University of Toledo Vice President and Director of Athletics Bryan B. Blair today announced the hiring of Chris Bailey-Greene as the program’s first women’s rowing head coach. Bailey-Greene comes to Toledo after serving as the associate head coach at Washington State University.
Toledo recently added women’s rowing as its 17th varsity sports program. The Rockets will begin competition in fall 2025, while Bailey-Greene will immediately begin building the team through recruitment and facility development. The Mid-American Conference added rowing as an official conference sport beginning in the 2025-26 academic year, with the league champion earning an automatic bid to the NCAA Championships.
“We are thrilled to welcome Chris Bailey-Greene as the first head coach of our new women’s rowing program,” Blair said. “As a native Ohioan and former Ivy League student-athlete, we could not have asked for a better fit to lead the program. Chris has a broad range of coaching experiences in programs that have competed at the highest level of collegiate rowing and has a reputation for being a relentless recruiter. We look forward to him helping us build a first-class rowing program and are excited for him and his family to join our #TeamToledo community.”
“I want to thank Vice President and Director of Athletics Bryan Blair, Executive Associate Athletic Director Nicole Alderson, and all those who welcomed me with open arms the moment I stepped on campus,” Bailey-Greene said. “The strong community and energy of all those within the athletic department is infectious. I cannot wait to begin building a strong team, both on the water and off, one grounded in culture, hard work and dedication to the process and craft. It is an exciting time not only for Toledo Athletics but also for the University and city of Toledo to have a strong rowing presence downtown overlooking our beautiful skyline.”
Bailey-Greene brings more than 13 years of coaching experience to Toledo. Prior to his stint at Washington State, Bailey-Greene spent two seasons as an assistant coach with the women’s rowing team at Gonzaga, where he helped the Bulldogs to back-to-back West Coast Conference Championships in 2021 and 2022. He also spent two years as the top assistant coach for the Oregon State men’s rowing team. During his time in Corvallis, the Beavers finished fourth at the 2019 Pac-12 Rowing Championships to earn a berth into the IRA National Championships and a Top 18 national ranking.
Bailey-Greene also has spent time as an assistant coach at Yale under legendary head coach Steve Gladstone and guided the New York Athletic Club to multiple titles as well. During his time with Yale’s men’s rowing team, the Bulldogs won the 2018 IRA Varsity 8+ National Championship.
Bailey-Greene was a four-year member of the rowing team at Brown University, where the team was ranked inside the top five nationally each season, winning the Eastern Sprints championship in 2005 and Ivy League titles in 2007 and 2008.
Bailey-Greene is a native of Cincinnati and attended high school at St. Xavier. He holds a B.A. in psychology and an M.S. in both clinical psychology and criminal justice. He is a Level III Certified US Rowing coach. He lives in Sylvania with his wife, Emma, two boys, Forrest and Quinn, and dog, Gus.
Bailey-Greene’s official introduction as head coach will be at a later date.
