Pattie Pinkerton begins her 13th season as head coach of the UCSD women’s rowing team in 2011-12.  During her tenure, UCSD has gained top 10 rankings for its varsity and lightweight programs, as well as consistently placing athletes on US Rowing and College Rowing Coaches Association All-American and Scholar-Athlete squads. UCSD consistently medals at the Western Intercollegiate Rowing Championships and the Pacific Coast Rowing Championships.

The 2010-11 season opened up with the Tritons participating in the ninth annual Row for the Cure event, where they helped raise nearly $20,000 for breast cancer research. Pinkerton's crew was ranked 8th nationally in the CRCA/USRowing Coaches Poll. Pinkerton also led her team to sweep all five races against UC Irvine. Finishing the season at the Western Intercollegiate Rowing Assocation (WIRA) Championship, Pinkerton's squad placed 10th overall.

During the 2008-09 campaign, the Tritons took part in the prestigious Berg Cup and received a second-place finish from the varsity eight during the UC Irvine/Long Beach State Regatta. The season concluded for Pinkerton's sqauad at the Pacific Coast Rowing Championships, where UCSD completed its final regatta of the year by winning 38 medals with 28 women competing. The varsity eight boat took home bronze while the varsity four also placed third against some of the fastest D-II fours in the country. 

In 2007-08, Pinkerton rallied the team to strong showings at the Western Intercollegiate Rowing Championships and Pacific Coast Rowing Championships, leading to an at-large team bid to the NCAA Division II National Championships.  At Rancho Cordova, the Tritons repeated their championship success from the previous year with their second consecutive national runner-up finish.

Pinkerton led the Tritons to their most successful season in school-history in 2006-07, finishing second in the nation at the NCAA DII National Championships.  That Triton squad also won the prestigious Berg Cup for the first time, had its highest finish at the PCRC’s, and earned a team bid to the NCAA Rowing Championships.

In the 2005-06 season, UCSD notched a fifth-place finish at the NCAA Championships, becoming the first ever crew team in San Diego to qualify as a team to Nationals.

Pinkerton previously served as women’s crew coach at Gonzaga University in Spokane, Washington. At Gonzaga, she led her team to the West Coast Conference championship in 1999 and was named WCC Coach of the Year. Pinkerton’s rowing career spans a period of 25 years. She was a competitor at the USA National Championships from 1975 to 1984, and competed for the USA Sculling Squad from 1980-82. As an international competitor at the Master’s Championships and World Games from 1985-97, she won 16 international titles and seven national titles. From 1982-84, she was president of the USA National Women’s Rowing Association and in 1984 was named Woman of the Year by the United States Rowing Association.

Much of Pinkerton’s coaching experience came in Australia, where she coached the Men’s and Women’s Talent Identification Squads to 17 national rowing titles in the Australian National Championships from 1990-98. In 1996, she was named West Australian Rowing Coach of the Year. Her vast experience in the sport has also resulted in numerous duties as a lecturer and journalist. She covered the 1992 Olympic rowing competition in Barcelona as an accredited reporter.

Pinkerton studied Journalism at San Diego State University from 1974-78 and served as Rowing Coordinator for the San Diego Rowing Club from 1983 to 1984.