Men's Rowing
- Title:
- Head Men's Coach
- Email:
- pjs59@drexel.edu
- Phone:
- 215-895-2030
215-895-2030
Paul Savell opened eyes in the rowing community in just his first season at Drexel. The second-year coach guided the men’s varsity eight to a petite final berth at the Dad Vail Regatta and the men’s novice four to a sixth-place finish at the IRA Championships. On the women’s side, Drexel had one of its most successful seasons in recent memory as the women’s varsity eight won the Frostbite and Braxton Regattas and placed third at the San Diego Crew Classic. Savell was named the Drexel Director of Rowing in July of 2007 after serving as the head crew coach at Lehigh for nine seasons. Savell was instrumental the development of the Mountain Hawks' program from a team of 30 to more than 100 members.
Savell’s early success at Drexel should come as no surprise as he led the Lehigh program to success at major regattas across the country in addition to boosting the program’s roster size. Over his final five seasons with the Mountain Hawks, Savell had three boats in the grand finals of the IRA National Championships. In five of the last six seasons, the Lehigh men's varsity eight finished in the top 12 at the Dad Vail Regatta. In the 2005-06 season, the Lehigh men's varsity four took third at the Head of the Charles Regatta and took fourth at the IRA's. In 2002, the women's varsity eight earned a first-place finish at the Head of the Charles Regatta. Under Savell's guidance, the Lehigh rowing team captured the Patriot League Challenge title in 2001 and 2006.
Prior to taking the coaching reins at Lehigh, Savell coached at Holy Spirit High School in Absecon, N.J. for four seasons. Savell coached the novice and lightweight boats capturing numerous state championships. Prior to his stint at Holy Spirit, he worked as the men's novice coach at Georgia Tech where he led the boat to an eighth-place finish at Dad Vail.
In addition to his impressive coaching resume, Savell is an accomplished rower. He starred at Holy Spirit in High School before attending the University of Wisconsin. Savell rowed stroke in the varsity eight for two seasons. He captured a National Championship at the IRA's as a senior in the straight four. He also won four straight Midwest Crew Championships and earned a third-place finish in varsity four at the IRA's as a freshman. Savell graduated from Wisconsin with a degree in engineering and earned his a master’s degree in business administration from Lehigh in 2001.
Savell resides in Haddon Township, N.J. with his wife, Janet and their three sons, Jack, Joe and Brendan.
