GENEVA, N.Y. -- William Smith Director of Athletics Susan Bassett recently announced the hiring of Zenon Babraj to serve as the head coach of the Hobart crew team. Babraj takes over for Jim Joy, who will work exclusively with the William Smith crew after coaching both Hobart and William Smith for the past 10 seasons.

"Zenon is an outstanding appointment for Hobart Crew," Bassett said. "He brings a breadth of knowledge about sports and sports science as well as an impressive background in rowing. I'm certain he will continue the tradition of excellence started by Jim Joy.

"I think he's an incredible addition to our community. Zenon and his wife Kelly have a lot to contribute to rowing, athletics at Hobart and William Smith, and the Colleges in general.

"I look forward to working with both of them."

A native of Warsaw, Poland, Zenon Babraj brings a long list of accomplishments at both the national and international levels. An oarsman for the Polish national team from 1969 until 1978, he served as the national team coach and director of the Olympic training center in Warsaw from 1978 until he came to the United States in 1984.

His first stop in the United States was Seattle, where he served as a volunteer assistant coach at the University of Washington. He moved on to Cincinnati in 1985 where he directed the Cincinnati Rowing Club. In 1986, Babraj was named freshman coach at Brown University. His Brown crews won the Intercollegiate Rowing Association Championships in the eight and four-oared events. During the summer of 1986, he became the rowing program director at the University of California at Los Angeles. At UCLA, he led the Bruins to three straight Pacific Coast Championships, while earning three straight Pac-10 Men's Crew Coach of the Year awards (1987-89). UCLA's 1987 Pacific Coast Championship was the school's first in 17 years, while the 1988 title marked the first repeat in the 55-year history of the program. While at UCLA, he also served as a rowing coach for the U.S. national team from 1986 until 1990.

Over the past eight years, Babraj has served as the director of various sports training facilities, including the Alaska Sports Academy and Sport is Life, both of which he owned. He recently returned to the U.S. national team as an assistant rowing coach in preparation for the 1999 World Championships.

A 1974 graduate of the Engineering College in Warsaw, Babraj holds a master's degree in sports science from the Academy of Physical Education in Warsaw.

Kelly Babraj will serve as her husband's assistant coach and direct the Colleges' wellness program. An accomplished rowing coach, she was the head coach of the women's crew program at UCLA from 1986 until 1991, leading the Bruins to Pacific Coast Championships in 1990 and 1991, while earning three straight Pac-10 Coach of the Year awards from 1989 through 1991. She was the women's sculling coach for the U.S. junior national team in 1989. Like her husband, she has been involved with sports training facilities over the last several years, serving as an owner and coach of the Alaska Sports Academy and a coach and trainer at Sport is Life.

She graduated from UCLA in 1985 with a bachelor's degree in psychology.

Hobart and William Smith Colleges are two private, coordinate institutions of higher learning in the liberal arts located along the western shore of Seneca Lake. William Smith College for women was founded in 1908 and currently enrolls 952 women. Hobart College was founded in 1822 and currently enrolls 835 men. The coordinate system allows the two colleges to share faculty and facilities and provide coeducational classes. However, each college awards its own degrees, has its own dean and admissions office, and maintains its own student government and athletics programs. The crew program, as well as the sailing program, are considered coordinate sports at the Colleges and are under the supervision of the William Smith director of athletics.

--HWS SPORTS--