Yasmin Farooq

Who is Yasmin Farooq?

Yasmin Farooq is an American rowing cox. She graduated from Waupun High School in 1984 at Waupun, WI. She attended the University of Wisconsin where she started coxing in 1984; she then was voted Captain and MVP her senior year. She finished 6th in the women's eight at the 1992 Summer Olympics and 4th in the women's eight at the 1996 Summer Olympics.

In 2006, Farooq became the head coach of Stanford University's women's rowing team. In her second year at the helm, the Stanford varsity eight won a silver medal at the NCAA Championships, and she was named Pac-10 Coach of the Year. In 2009, she led the team to Stanford's first NCAA Team Title in rowing. The Stanford varsity eight set an NCAA record of 6:11.95 en route to victory in the grand final. The team title was solidified with a third place finish by the second varsity eight and a fifth place finish by the varsity four. Also in 2009, Farooq was named 2009 Coach of the Year by the Rowing News, and also earned "Joy of Sculling Coaches Conference Award for University Women's Coach of the Year" at the 17th Annual Joy of Sculling Conference. In 2011, Stanford finished in a tie with Brown University for first place in the NCAA team standings, but they lost the tie-breaker by .05 in the first varsity eight grand final.