Rowing
- Title:
- Assistant Coach
- Email:
- eeiffert@umich.edu
Cell Phone: 585-734-1859
Email: women.rowing@umich.edu
Emily Sugiyama returned to Michigan as a volunteer assistant coach before the start of the 2012-13 season and was elevated to an assistant coach on Aug. 26, 2016. She is in her 13th year in a coaching capacity with the program in 2025-26, her tenth year as a full-time staff member, and her 17th year with the Michigan rowing program (four years as a student-athlete).
Like all of the program's coaches, Sugiyama works with the entire team, but since being elevated to the full-time staff, she focuses on working with the fours boats in the spring.
Â
In her first two seasons as a coach, Sugiyama contributed in a volunteer assistant role. For the 2014-15 and 2015-16 seasons, she was the program's graduate assistant and coached the fours before being elevated to the full-time staff as a varsity assistant for 2016-17.
Â
Sugiyama has been on the staff for four Big Ten Championship-winning seasons (2019, '21, '23, '24). She has coached the varsity four boats to 13 Big Ten gold medals including a sweep of all three varsity four races at the 2021 Big Ten Championships. That effort contributed a key 48 points to the team total. The fours boats were also critical to the Big Ten Championships won by the team in 2019 (first since 2012) with a program-record 191 points.
Â
Under Sugiyama's leadership, the 1V4 won Big Ten gold in 2017, '21, '23 and '24; the 2V4 won in 2016, '19, '21; the 3V4 won in 2017, '21, '22. The 1V4 also qualified for five consecutive NCAA Grand Finals appearances between 2016-'21. Sugiyama was also part of the 2019 and 2024 CRCA Region 4 Staffs of the Year.
Â
As a team, U-M reached the podium twice at the NCAA Championships in a four-season stretch (2017, '19 in third place), and beginning in 2017, the 1V4 has placed fifth, fifth, fourth, sixth, 11th, ninth, and seventh at the national regatta. Those performances have helped U-M finish third, seventh, third, fourth, 10th, 11th, and 7th in the team standings in recent seasons.
Â
Emily received her Master's Degree in Sports Management at U-M. She lives in Ann Arbor with her husband, Matt, and their dog, Hobbes. The couple had their first child, Taylor, in summer 2018.
Student-Athlete Career
Senior (2012)
• CRCA Pocock First Team All-American and All-Region (First varsity eight)
• Big Ten Champion
• Runner-up at NCAAs
• Three-time Big Ten Boat of the Week honoree (April 4, April 10, April 17)
• Third place in the Head of the Charles regatta.
Junior (2011)
• First varsity eight
• 1V8 finished 13th at NCAAs to help the team finish 12th
• Finished 3rd at Big Tens to help team finish 2nd.
Sophomore (2010)
• CRCA second team all-region selection
• First varsity eight
• Competed at NCAA Championships, placing 12th
• Fourth at Central/South Region Sprints
• Fourth at Big Ten Championships
• Boat of the Week (April 6)
Freshman (2009)
• First varsity eight
• Competed at NCAA Championships, placing eighth
• Runner-up at Central/South Region Sprints
• Runner-up at Big Ten Championships
• Won the Jessop-Whittier Cup at the San Diego Crew Classic
• Undefeated during regular season
• Big Ten Boat of the Week (March 31)
• One of four recipients of the U-M Freshman of the Year Award
Prep
• Honeoye Falls-Lima (2008)
• Honor roll
• 2008 Hammer Award, all-state team
• Second place, USRowing Scholastic National Championships, 1x
• 2008 state champion, 1x
• 2007 state champion, 8+
National/International
• Competed at the 2009 FISA World Rowing Under-23 Championships
• Took 10th place in the double scull with teammate Cristina Felix
• Competed at the 2009 U.S. World Championships
• Twelfth place, 2008 Junior World Championships, 2x
• Member of 2007 USRowing High Performance Team
• Fifth place, 2006 World Indoor Rowing Championships
• First place, 2006 Dutch Indoor Rowing Championships
• Tenth place, 2005 World Indoor Rowing Championships
Club
• Pittsford Crew
• Gold medal, 2006 USRowing Club National Championships, 4+
• Silver medal, 2006 USRowing Club National Championships, 8+
