Sept. 16, 2005

Washington, DC - The Georgetown athletic department announced the hiring of three new crew coaches. John Fife and Jim O'Connor take over as the head men's and women's lightweight coach, respectively, while Justin Manning joins the Hoya staff as the men's lightweight novice coach and Marc Mandel will act as men's heavyweight novice coach.

Fife arrives at the Hilltop after three years as the novice lightweight coach at University of Pennsylvania. His teams enjoyed great success over his three years, including back-to-back fourth place finishes at the Eastern Sprints. He graduated from Penn in 2002, having been a four-year member of their heavyweight rowing program. During his playing days, Fife also was an assistant coach at St. Joseph's Prep for two years and three years as head coach of the Penn Athletic Club's Junior Rowing Association.

"I am excited to continue the excellence and success the Georgetown lightweight crew has produced over the past years," said Fife on his arrival at Georgetown. "We plan on continuing to take the Hoya program to the next level."

O'Connor remains in the Washington DC area, moving onto Georgetown after three years as the freshman lightweight coach at George Washington University. In only three years, he quickly turned around the Colonial's program. Two years ago, the GW squad completed one of its most successful seasons, picking up two victories and placing second at the IRA Collegiate National Championship Regatta and the ECAC National Invitational Regatta to end the year. O'Conner, a 2002 graduate of St. Joseph's University, was a four-year varsity member of their rowing team, captaining the Hawks in his senior campaign.

Mandel served as the head coach of the men's rowing squad at the Florida Institute of Technology from 2001-05, prior to arriving at Georgetown. His tenure was highlighted with a silver medal in the varsity eight and a gold medal in the freshmen four at the 2005 Dad Vail National Championships. In addition, the program has won four straight men's championships at the Florida Intercollegiate Rowing Association Championships. Mandel graduated from Northwestern University in 1998, having competed four years for their rowing team.

Manning is a recent graduate of the University of Virginia and was a standout for the Cavaliers, in addition to being a alum of Washington and Lee High School.