SMU Athletics

Kim Cupini arrived on the Hilltop in the summer of 2017. She has led the Mustangs to back-to-back-to-back American Athletic Conference Championships (2021, 2022, 2023) and NCAA Championship appearances (11th in 2021, 12th in 2022, 9th in 2023). Cupini and her staff have been named AAC Coaching Staff of the Year four times and the Mustangs have claimed AAC Boat of the Year three times.
 
In 2023, SMU three-peated as conference champions by sweeping every race. Cupini and her staff were named AAC Coaching Staff of the Year by the conference. At the NCAA Championship, the Mustangs finished in the top three in each of the opening races. The performance sent all three boats to the A/B semifinals for the first time in program history. After qualifying for the petite finals, the 1v8 had the best boat finish in SMU history with a first place finish in the race, good for a seventh-place national showing. The 1v4 and the 2v8 each finished in the top 11 nationally. As a team, the Mustangs finished in ninth place, the best finish by a Mustang squad and the best showing ever by an AAC program. Cupini was named Region Coach of the Year by the CRCA.

In 2022, SMU swept all four races at the AAC Championship for a second straight season. The Mustangs finished 12th overall at the NCAA Championships with the 1V8+ in 11th, 2V8+ in 10th and the V4+ winning the C final for 13th. The second varsity eight was named AAC Boat of the Year, and the coaches won AAC Staff of the Year. SMU had eight All-AAC honorees with five first-team selections. Three Mustangs were named Pocock/Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association (CRCA) All-Americans, the most in program history.
 
In 2021, SMU won its first conference title after sweeping all four races at the AAC Championship, earning an automatic bid to the NCAA Championships for the first time in program history. SMU finished 11th overall, marking the best finish for an AAC team at this stage. Cupini and her staff were named AAC Staff of the Year for the second time and the first varsity eight was named the league's Boat of the Year. Eight SMU rowers were named to the 2021 all-conference team.
 
Captains Peyton Matthews and Juliet Traylor were named Pocock All-Americans while seven Mustangs were named CRCA Scholar Athletes. Starting the 2021 season nationally ranked for the first time (No. 20), SMU topped out at No. 10 in the final CRCA/Pocock poll, the highest ever for the program.
 
Cupini led the Mustangs to a sweep over No. 8 Iowa to begin the 2021 season. SMU later defeated No. 12 Wisconsin and (RV) Notre Dame at the Cardinal Invitational, going on to defeat (RV) Louisville in all three races on the second day. SMU gathered three top-two finishes at the Longhorn Invitational, finishing ahead of No. 10 Alabama and (RV) Notre Dame in the first, second and third varsity eights.
 
In her third season, SMU defeated Alabama by over 12 seconds in the first varsity eight in the Mustangs’ first event of spring 2020 before the cancelation of the remainder of the season due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
 
In just her second season, Cupini led the Mustangs to a conference championship in the first varsity eight in 2019. SMU was the only program to place in the top three of all six events, finishing second overall. A then program-high four rowers were named to the All-AAC team. SMU earned AAC Coaching Staff of the Year and the first varsity eight was the league's Boat of the Year, both program-firsts. Earlier in the season, the Mustangs defeated (RV) Alabama and posted the fastest time of the event at the Sunshine State Invitational. The 2019 campaign also saw SMU receive votes in the national poll for the first time in program history.
 
In her first season at SMU, Cupini led the Mustangs to the program's then-best finish at the 2018 AAC Championship, finishing fourth overall. The Mustangs captured gold in the varsity four and bronze in the first varsity eight. SMU also posted top-three finishes at the Head of the Oklahoma, San Diego Crew Classic and Cherry Hill Invitational through 2017-18.
 
Prior to SMU, Cupini led San Diego for 10 years, including to its first of four West Coast Conference (WCC) championships in 2010. In 2014, the Toreros qualified for the first NCAA Championships appearance in program history, finishing 15th. USD was nationally ranked in the top 20 or received votes in the poll each of her final five seasons there.
 
Cupini coached six student-athletes to All-America honors and 19 to All-Region accolades. Her teams collected 43 all-conference awards, four WCC Coxswains of the Year, a WCC Rower of the Year and two WCC Newcomers of the Year. She also developed 40 rowers who earned WCC All-Academic honors and 41 CRCA Scholar-Athletes. Cupini led the Toreros to four conference titles, finishing as high as 15th at the NCAA Championships, and was named WCC Coach of the Year five times.
 
Cupini started her coach career as an assistant at San Diego in 2004. In 2005, she joined the staff at the University of Central Florida, coaching for two seasons as an assistant before returning to San Diego as head coach. She helped lead the Knights to the program’s first top 20 national ranking during the 2005-06 season and the first NCAA Championships appearance in 2007. UCF won the overall point trophy at the Southern Intercollegiate Rowing Association Championships in 2007.
 
As a member of the San Diego rowing team, Cupini earned All-WCC honors in 2001 and 2003, and Western Intercollegiate Rowing Association (WIRA) All-Conference accolades in 2002 and 2003. She was also named to the WCC All-Academic team.
 
A native of Rochester, N.Y., Cupini graduated from San Diego with a B.S. in environmental studies and a minor in business administration. She holds a USRowing Level III coaching certification.