ORLANDO – Marten Martensson, as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator, has joined the UCF rowing program, head coach Mara Allen announced Thursday afternoon.
Martensson joins the Knights after one season with Virginia as an assistant coach and international recruiter. The Cavaliers finished the 2023 season ranked 10th in the Pocock Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association (CRCA) Poll and earned the team’s fifth straight top-10 finish at the NCAA Championships. Virginia also brought home its 13th-consecutive Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) Championship.
“We are very excited for Marten to be joining our staff,” Allen said. “Marten brings a wealth of knowledge having coached under two rowing icons – Steve Gladstone and Kevin Sauer. He will have a large impact on the success of our team.”
In his lone season in Charlottesville, Martensson was part of a staff that coached two Pocock Racing Shells All-Americans and nine U19 and U23 Rowing World Championship participants. Eight Cavaliers were named CRCA Scholar-Athletes and 29 were selected to the All-ACC Academic Team.
Prior to his time at Virginia, Martensson spent five years at Yale with the men’s heavyweight crew. Before becoming a full-time staff member in September 2019, Martensson served as a volunteer assistant for the Bulldogs for two seasons, coaching the fifth and sixth varsity crews, and playing a role in Yale’s 2018 and 2019 Intercollegiate Rowing Association (IRA) National Championships.
“I’m thrilled to be joining the coaching staff at UCF,” Martensson said. “It’s an exciting time for the program and the school. The dedication and genuine love are palpable from administration to alumni.”
In Martensson’s time as a volunteer assistant with the Bulldogs, Martensson assisted the New York Athletic Club’s U23 Heavyweight Men’s team. He helped lead the club to a USRowing Club National title in 2019. In 2018, Martensson coached the U23 Heavyweight Men’s Crew for the Vesper Boat Club in Philadelphia. He assisted the crew to a silver-medal finish in the 8+ at Club Nationals.
Martensson graduated from Marist College in 2017 with a bachelor’s degree in psychology as a four-year member of the varsity crew team. As a student-athlete, Martensson was an assistant coach at the Norwalk River Rowing Association.
Martensson is a native of Norwalk, Connecticut.