Marija Medelinskaite - Women's Rowing Coach

Marija Medelinskaite

Title:
Assistant Coach
Email:
marijam@athletics.ucla.edu

Marija Medelinskaite enters her third season as an assistant coach with UCLA’s program in 2024-25.

Medelinskaite (name pronounced mah-REE-uh med-dell-in-skite) oversaw the Bruins’ novice rower development in 2023 and 2024. UCLA’s novice eight crew recorded a pair of third-place finishes at the two-day San Diego Crew Classic and finished ahead of Washington State at the season-culminating Pac-12 Championships in Lowell, Ore.

Prior to joining UCLA’s program, Medelinskaite spent the 2021 and 2022 rowing seasons as a graduate assistant coach at West Virginia after having earned her undergraduate degree from Central Florida in 2019. Medelinskaite rowed for nearly 10 seasons, including four years on the varsity squad at Central Florida, before embarking upon her coaching career.

As a graduate assistant coach at West Virginia, Medelinskaite helped the team navigate through a pandemic-altered season in 2020-21. She assisted in multiple facets of the West Virginia program, as the Mountaineers’ four crews made significant strides. West Virginia’s second varsity four (2V4+) registered a fourth-place finish and the varsity four (V4+) finished fifth at the Big 12 Conference Championships in Austin, Texas.

Prior to coaching at West Virginia, Medelinskaite served as a coach with Casitas Rowing, located in Ventura, Calif. She worked with the varsity girls’ squad during the 2019-20 academic year, which was interrupted by the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. Medelinskaite also worked with the master’s team at Casitas Rowing.

As a student-athlete at Central Florida from 2015-19, Medelinskaite was a mainstay in the team’s varsity eight crew (V8+). Central Florida won four consecutive American Athletic Conference titles during her time as an undergraduate rower, guiding the program to four consecutive top-20 final national rankings in 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019.

In addition, Medelinskaite set team erg records during her sophomore season in both the 2K and 6K, improving upon the 6K erg record during her senior year. She earned first-team all-conference acclaim her final three seasons (2017-19) after having been named a second-team selection as a freshman in 2016.

Medelinskaite earned her bachelor’s degree in interdisciplinary studies at the University of Central Florida with a minor in early childhood education and development. She graduated with her master’s degree in coaching and sports education from West Virginia University in 2022.