Scott Frandsen is now in his 14th year at Cal (8th as the head coach) entering the 2026 season. In 2024, Frandsen was elected into the Cal Athletics Hall of Fame for his success as a student-athlete and as a member of the Canadian national team at three Olympic Games (Athens, Beijing, London). His rowing career was highlighted by four World Cup gold medals and a silver medal at the Beijing Olympics.
During the 2024 Paris Olympics a total of 10 of Frandsen's current and former rowers competed for their respective countries with three going on to earn medals. Representing the Bears in Paris were: Frederik Breuer (German men's 8+), Angus Dawson (Australian men's 8+), Gennaro di Mauro (Italian men's 8+), Tim Roth (Swiss men's 4+), Martin Mackovic (Serbian men's 2x), Ollie Maclean (silver - New Zealand men's 4+), Olav Molenaar (silver - Dutch 8+), Jack Robertson (Australian men's 4+), Gus Rodriguez (U.S. spare) and Christian Tabash (bronze - United States 8+).
In 2025, the Golden Bears competed in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) as men’s rowing became an MPSF-sanctioned sport for the first time in conference history. That season, Cal spent four out of the six weeks of the season ranked No. 1 nationally in the IRCA/IRA Varsity 8 Polls and ranked No. 2 the other two weeks. Over the course of the season, the Bears first varsity 8+ defeated a number of ranked teams in duels against No. 3 Brown, No. 6 Stanford, No. 7 Yale and No. 19 Drexel. Cal made history taking down then No. 1 Washington to win the MPSF’s first-ever men’s rowing conference championship. At the conclusion of the conference championships, senior Frederik Breuer was named MPSF Athlete of the Year while Frandsen was named Coach of the Year. The Bears then had their second and third varsity 8+ and first varsity 4+ finish third overall in their respective grand finals, while the V8+ won the petite final with the fastest time of the entire weekend at the IRA national championships to help them place third in the team standings.
In 2024, Frandsen led the Golden Bears to a third-place finish at the Intercollegiate Rowing Association (IRA) championships. Prior to that season, he led the Bears Varsity 8+ to convincing undefeated national championships in 2022 and 2023. In 2023 he guided Cal to a historic sweep of all four events (only the second ever school to do so) for the first time in program history on its way to winning the James Ten Eyck Memorial Trophy - given to the overall team points winner - for the first time since 2016. In both years, Frandsen was named Pac12, IRA and IRCA National Coach of the Year.
Frandsen, a 2002 graduate of the Haas School of Business and three-time national champion as a student-athlete at Cal, is in his fifth season as head coach of the Cal men's rowing team. Under Frandsen's guidance, the Bears are excelling academically as well, winning the award for the top GPA for a large men's team at Cal for the past five years in a row.
In his first season at the helm in 2019, Frandsen led the Bears to a third-place finish at the Intercollegiate Rowing Association championships, including a victory for Cal's second varsity eight. Fifteen rowers earned a spot on the Pac-12 All-Academic Team while nine earned IRA All-Academic honors. The Bears went on to finish 2nd in the Varsity 8+ and overall as a team in the 2021 season.
In addition to his crews experiencing success on the water, Frandsen also placed an emphasis on academics as his teams have won the Newmark Award - given annually to the teams at Cal with the top cumulative grade-point average during the previous academic year - for seven consecutive years.
A three-time Olympian, Frandsen joined Cal’s coaching staff as an assistant in 2012, helping the Bears to a record of excellence both on the water and in the classroom. Cal has finished in the top five in both the varsity eight and junior varsity eight at the IRA national championships in every season Frandsen has been a member of Cal’s coaching staff. The Bears won the Varsity Challenge Cup and Pac-12 championship in 2016 and have had success at the Henley Royal Regatta, winning the Ladies’ Plate in 2014 and the Visitors’ Cup in 2015.
A native of Kelowna, British Columbia, Frandsen is one of the most decorated oarsman in Cal rowing history. Frandsen helped Cal’s varsity eight to three consecutive IRA championships from 2000-02, including a pair of undefeated seasons in 2000 and 2001. The Golden Bear captain also guided Cal to the three straight Pac-10 titles in the men's eight and was honored as a first-team All-Pac-10 selection as a senior.
A two-time Pac-10 All-Academic honoree, Frandsen graduated from the Haas School of Business in 2002 with a degree in business administration and went on to complete a master’s degree in Psychological Research at Oxford University. While at Oxford, Frandsen competed in the Blue Boat in that won the tightly contested 2003 Oxford/Cambridge Boat Race and served as a volunteer coach for the University College eights.
Frandsen then put together a decorated career on the international stage, racing in three Olympics and five World Championships. After helping Canada to a fifth-place finish in the eight at the 2004 Summer Olympics, Frandsen won silver in the pair at the 2008 games in Beijing, Canada’s first medal in the event in over 40 years. Frandsen raced in the pair again in the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, charting a sixth-place finish. A two-time Canadian champion in the pair, Frandsen claimed seven medals at World Cup regattas, including three golds in the eight and a gold in the pair.
Frandsen and his wife, Tannis, live in Danville and have a son, Owen, and a daughter, Amelia.
Updated: Aug. 7, 2025
