Head coach Joe Wilhelm announced on September 9, 2019 that Ariel Handler had joined the program as an assistant coach and has now completed six seasons with the Huskies.
Since Ariel's time at Northeastern, she has assisted the women's rowing program in winning a Woodbury Cup in 2022, six CAA Championships, and making six NCAA Championship appearances.
"Ariel's coaching and coxing experience will make her a valuable resource for both our rowers and coxswains," Wilhelm said. "She has developed strong, committed young women at the junior level, and we are excited to see her use those skills to help us continue to do so at Northeastern. Her knowledge of the U.S. Junior Development System and the relationships she has developed with high school coaches will aid in our identification and recruitment of some of the top athletes in the United States."
Handler arrives at Northeastern after spending the previous four years as an assistant coach for Community Rowing, Inc. While at CRI, she helped qualify crews for the Youth National Championships in 2017 and 2019, and helped lead the women's high performance team to gold medals in the U19 eight and U19 quad.
During the 2018-19 season, Handler was also a volunteer assistant coach for the lightweights at Radcliffe.
As a student-athlete, Handler captained a UCLA team which finished seventh at the NCAA Championships and coxswained the varsity eight to a six place finish nationally, the highest finish for a UCLA crew and team at the NCAA Championships.
After graduation, Ariel served as an assistant coach at UCLA, before working with the US Junior Development System, where she continued to coach and run development camps through the summer of 2019. She also served as an assistant coach of the United States team at the 2013 Jr World Championships.
