Malcolm Doldron headshot

Malcolm Doldron

  • Title
    Director of Women's Rowing
  • Email
    mdoldron@bu.edu
  • Phone
    (617) 358-3285
  • Alma Mater
    Marietta College '99
Patriot League Coach of the Year (2024)
Patriot League Champion (2024)
4x USRowing U23 National Team Coaching Staff (2020, 2019, 2018, 2017)
6x IRA National Championship Regatta Runner-Up (2023, 2022, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016)
2x Eastern Sprints Ulbrich Trophy Lightweight Champion (2019, 2016)
3x Double Scull IRA National Champion (2021, 2019, 2016)

Following 11 standout seasons as the inaugural lightweight rowing program's head coach, Malcolm Doldron was elevated to the Director of Women's Rowing in June of 2023. The 2023-24 campaign marked his first in this role, and 12th overall at Boston University. 

In his first season at the helm of the women's openweight crew, Doldron guided the Terriers to the 2024 Patriot League title, the third in program history and second in the previous three campaigns. BU swept all three Grand Final races for the first time since joining the Patriot League in the 2013-14 school year. For his efforts, he was selected as the Patriot League Coach of the Year, while the Terrier Varsity 8 crew was named the conference's Boat of the Year.

That season, BU went on to compete at the 2024 NCAA Championships in Bethel, Ohio. Overall, the Terriers finished 19th as a team while generating 24 points, surpassing the totals from their previous two NCAA appearances in 2022 and 2014. Following the end of the collegiate slate, BU went on to compete at the famed Henley Royal Regatta on the River Thames in England in July of 2024. Sending two crews, the Terrier 8+ advanced to the quarterfinal round in the Island Challenge Cup, one of two NCAA programs to advance that far in the entry.

During Doldron's first season, senior Anna Dechantsreiter was tabbed as the Patriot League Scholar-Athlete of the Year, becoming the first Terrier in program history to earn that recognition. She and classmate Lulu November were named Academic All-Patriot League picks. Six Terriers earned All-Patriot League status, while nine represented the program as CRCA Scholar-Athletes.

Named the lightweight rowing program’s inaugural head coach in June 2012, Doldron completed his 11th season as head coach of the women’s lightweights at Boston University in 2022-23. That fall, the program celebrated 10 years as a varsity program, holding a reunion at the DeWolfe Boathouse.

In the 2022-23 season, Doldron helped guide the Terriers to their second consecutive runner-up performance at the IRA National Championship Regatta, earning bronze medals in the Lightweight 4 and double sculls. During the regular season, BU won its sixth-consecutive Beanpot over Harvard-Radcliffe and MIT, while collecting gold medals at the Knecht Cup in the lightweight four and eight events, the lightweight four and double at the Eastern Sprints, and the collegiate double and lightweight eight (Evelyn Bergman Trophy) at the Dad Vail Regatta.

The 2021-22 year saw Doldron and the Terriers finish second at the IRAs, with silver and bronze medals coming in the double sculls and lightweight four, respectively. BU also captured its fifth straight Beanpot.

In 2021, Doldron was among a select group of coaches that completed USRowing’s Level 3 High Performance Coach Certification Course. Over the course of six months, these coaches completed 11 elite coaching modules designed to advance their skills in fields such as biomechanics, advanced rigging, long-term athlete development and rowing philosophy

During the 2019-20 fall season, Doldron's eighth at BU, he coached the Terriers to three top five finishes among US collegians at the 55th Head of the Charles Regatta. During the spring of 2020, Doldron was named to the USRowing U23 National Team Staff for the fourth-consecutive year.

Doldron directed the U23 Lightweight National Team Selection Camp in Boston that selected lightweight boats for the 2019 World Rowing Under 23 Championships in Sarasota, Fla. At Worlds, Doldron coached BU rising senior Sarah Maietta to a silver medal in the lightweight pair. Overall, the U.S. won seven medals at the 2019 World Rowing Under 23 Championship, taking home one gold, three silver and three bronze medals.  

During the 2018-19 season, his seventh year coaching the BU lightweights, the Terriers' 2x won the IRA National Championship double scull title for the second time in program history. As a team at IRAs, the Terriers won gold in the double skull, silver in the varsity four and bronze in the varsity eight. BU was the only program to medal in all three events and finished as IRA National Runner-Up for the fourth-consecutive year. 

Earlier in the 2018-19 season, BU won five gold medals at Eastern Sprints to finish with 45 team points and capture the Ulbrich Trophy as Eastern Sprints Champions for just the second time in program history. 

In 2017-18, his sixth year coaching the BU lightweights, Malcolm led the Terriers’ varsity eight boat to the programs' first-ever No. 1 national ranking. During the spring of 2018, the V8 boat defeated defending IRA National Champion Stanford in a dual race on the Charles River and won gold in the lightweight varsity eight grand final at Eastern Sprints. At the IRA National Championships, the Terriers won silver in the varsity eight race and finished as IRA National Runner-up for the third consecutive year.

At the 2018 U23s in Poznan, Poland, Doldron coached the Lightweight Pair and the Lightweight Quad Boats and helped guide the Lightweight Pair boat, which included BU Terrier Sarah Maietta, to a gold medal victory.

In 2016-17, his fifth year coaching the BU lightweights, Malcolm once again led the Terriers’ varsity eight boat to a No. 2 national ranking. Competing at the Knecht Cup against openweight and lightweight crews, BU finished second overall, ahead of crews from Princeton, Harvard and Wisconsin. BU won gold at the Dad Vail Regatta, defeating boats from Wisconsin and MIT. At the IRA National Championships, the Terriers advanced all three boats to the grand finals, won silver in the varsity eight race and finished as IRA National Runner-up for the second-consecutive year.

In 2015-16, his fourth year coaching the BU lightweights, Malcolm led the Terriers’ varsity eight boat to a No. 2 national ranking. BU defeated No. 3 Harvard and MIT on the Charles River to capture the program's first Beanpot trophy. At the IRA National Championships, the Terriers advanced all three boats to the grand finals, won silver in the varsity eight race and won gold in the double scull. Overall, the BU lightweights finished as IRA National Runner-up to Stanford by only four points.
 
Other season highlights included a gold medal performance by the varsity eight boat at the 42nd annual Eastern Sprints Championship. The Terriers’ V8 defeated crews from Harvard, Princeton, Wisconsin and Georgetown, helping the team win the Ulbrich Lightweight Points Trophy as overall 2016 Eastern Sprints Champion. Earlier in the season, the lightweights won their first ever Beanpot Regatta title, defeating crews from Harvard and MIT and took home the Founders Cup at the annual Lightweight Invite.
 
In 2014-15, his third year coaching the BU lightweights, the Terriers competed at the IRA National Championship Regatta for just the second time and won two bronze medals and saw all three of its boats finish in the top four. The IRA bronze medals were firsts for the lightweight program and cemented the Terriers as an elite women's lightweight rowing program in just its third year of existence. Earlier in the season at the Eastern Sprints, the Terriers won a silver medal in the lightweight varsity eight grand final and a gold medal in the lightweight second varsity eight grand final.
 
In 2013-14, in just Doldron’s second year coaching the BU lightweights, the women's lightweight rowing team saw both its boats record top 5 finishes while racing in its first Intercollegiate Rowing Association (IRA) National Championship Regatta. The Terriers placed fifth in the lightweight four grand finals and took fourth in the varsity eight grand finals.
 
In 2012-13, his first season coaching the BU lightweights, the team made its spring debut competing in the Lightweight Beanpot, with the V8 finishing in second place behind Radcliffe and ahead of third-place finisher MIT. Later in the season, the Terriers finished fifth in both the V8 race and the V4 at the Eastern Sprints.
 
Prior to being named head coach, the 13-year coaching veteran served as assistant coach for the Terriers’ women’s openweight team. A standout coxswain at Marietta College, Doldron came to BU in 2011 as an assistant for the women’s openweight rowing team.

In addition to his coaching credentials, Doldron is a member of USRowing's Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee and serves on the Board of Directors for both Community Rowing Inc., and the Head of the Charles Regatta. Outside of the rowing world, Doldron is an elected official in the Massachusetts Town of Brookline and is a Commissioner in Brookline's Committee for Diversity, Inclusion & Community Relations.
 
Prior to joining BU’s staff, he spent the previous four seasons as an assistant at Columbia University while also working as the head coach of the U.S. Rowing Under-23 and Senior Women’s Development Camp at the Penn Athletic Club.
 
Under his watch, the Lions, second varsity eight boat placed fourth at the Eastern Sprints in 2010, and the novice eight boat also placed fourth in 2009. During his first season with the team in 2008, the novice four boat won the Grand Final.

While working at the Penn Athletic Club in the summer of 2009 and 2010, he guided the crew to the overall team points trophy at the U.S. Rowing National Championships, winning seven event titles along the way. His lightweight eight and four boats went on to place first at the Royal Canadian Henley as well with the eights setting a course record.
 
Doldron joined Columbia after spending two seasons with Princeton as a volunteer assistant. While with the Tigers, he guided the varsity A four boat to a 25-2 record and a third-place finish at the 2007 Eastern Sprints. The boat went on to finish fourth at the NCAA Championship. The novice four boat also took home the title at Eastern Sprints.
 
Although he was born in Brooklyn, Doldron grew up in the Washington, D.C., area. He began coxing at West Potomac High in Alexandria and for the Thompson Boat Center.
 
He spent seven years, from 1999 to 2005, as head coach of rowing at West Potomac, guiding the men’s fours to gold at the Scholastic Nationals and silver at the Stotesbury Cup, and both men’s and women’s fours to gold and silver medals at the Virginia State Championships.
 
In five years as junior women’s head coach at the Thompson Boat Center, his junior and youth eights and fours earned multiple gold medals in the U.S. Rowing National Championships. The highlight performance came in 2005 when the crews captured the Marion D. Ventura Women’s Points Trophy.
 
In high school, the Alexandria resident served as coxswain of the varsity eight at West Potomac, earning silver in the Northern Virginia Championships, and a bronze medal as coxswain of the junior men’s four at the 1995 nationals, representing the Thompson Boat Center. He continued his rowing career at Marietta College, where he was the coxswain for the Pioneers’ varsity eight boat that earned bronze medals at the 1998 SIRA’s and Dad Vail Regatta. He graduated from Marietta in 1999 with a B.A. in psychology.
 
Following graduation, Doldron became a special education teacher at Fairfax High in Fairfax, Va.


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