Victoria Burke joined the SMU rowing staff as an assistant coach in 2017, joining Kim Cupini for her first season as head coach.
In 2023, SMU made it three consecutive conference championship with the Mustangs sweeping every race. Burke along with the rest of the SMU coaching 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.
In 2022, SMU swept all four races at the American Athletic Conference (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, Burke helped lead SMU to its first conference title after winning all three 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. SMU earned AAC Coaching 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.
At the 2021 NCAA Championships, the Mustangs placed 13th overall in the first varsity eight after winning the C final - the highest finish in the event in conference history. After becoming the first crew in conference history to compete in a petite final, the second varsity eight placed second in their final race for eighth overall, marking the highest ever finish in any NCAA event for an AAC 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.
The Mustangs swept 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. The team 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, Burke assisted 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, Burke helped lead 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.
Burke’s collegiate coaching experience began in 2012 as a volunteer assistant at the University of Virginia, helping guide her alma mater to NCAA and Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) Championships. Burke then spent three seasons as an assistant coach at UCLA, helping recruit three of the fastest incoming classes in the program’s history. The team advanced to the NCAA Championships in two of her three seasons, and she led the novice eight to a second-place finish at the PAC 12 Championships, the best finish in program history.
In 2016, Burke joined Cupini at the University of San Diego, directing the team to a second-place finish at the West Coast Conference (WCC) Championships, scoring runner-up finishes in every race. She also was also the lead recruiting coordinator for the program.
Burke also spent time coaching at the national level, working with the U23 lightweight quad at the 2012 World Rowing Championships. Her experience also includes a year as an assistant coach for the men’s rowing team at Junipero Serra High School in San Mateo, Calif. while training for the 2016 Olympic Trials.
As a competitor, Burke’s international results include winning a silver medal in the quad and a bronze medal in the lightweight double at the 2012 Pan American Games. She won a silver medal at the 2010 World Rowing Championships and 2009 U23 World Rowing Championships in the lightweight quad. She also earned a gold medal in 2009 at the Silver Skiff Regatta in Turin, Italy in the lightweight single.
At Virginia, Burke was part of the first NCAA Championship winning team in 2010. She also competed in the varsity eight which finished second at the 2009 NCAA Championship. Burke also helped Virginia win two ACC titles in 2008 and 2010.
