VILLANOVA, Pa. – Villanova Rowing head coach Carissa Adams announced on Thursday the addition of Marina Forster to her team's coaching staff, joining the Wildcats as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator.

A Philadelphia native, Forster comes to the Main Line after enjoying a successful collegiate rowing career at Drexel. Before graduating in 2018, she went on to start her coaching career in an Undergraduate Assistant role during her fifth year. She oversaw the Men's Freshman 8+, guiding them to a gold medal at the Jefferson Dad Vail Regatta in 2018.

Forster temporarily paused her coaching aspirations to travel Southeast Asia, settling down in Thailand to teach Science in English to primary school students at Regina Coeli College for several years. In addition to being an English teacher, Forster coached swimming to various levels, ages and ethnicities of clients as well as led a Community Yoga program in Chiang Mai, Thailand. It was during this time she discovered her true passion for coaching various movement modalities and mindfulness.

Upon her return to the States in 2021, Forster chose to coach at her alma mater, Lower Merion High School, as a Junior Varsity Rowing Coach. In her short time with Lower Merion, Forster shared yoga and mindfulness practices with the entire team and coached the Women's JV 8+ to win Manny Flick #4 and successfully qualify for semifinals at Stotesbury Regatta.

During her racing career, Forster experienced unprecedented success as a Division I Varsity student-athlete at Drexel from 2013-2017. During her time as a Dragon, Forster helped the Varsity 8+ achieve two silver-medal finishes and a career-capping gold-medal finish at the Dad Vail Regatta, solidifying a 5-year Overall Points Trophy winning position and First Overall Women's Points Trophy. She also helped the Varsity 8+ elevate its CAA standings from Bronze to Silver medalists during her time with Drexel. Forster dedicated her summers to rowing for Vesper's U23 High Performance team, where she excelled at Canadian Henley sweeping the competition in the U23 Women's Eight event for a gold-medal finish in 2015.

Forster graduated with her B.S. concentration in Health Sciences with a triple minor in Coaching, Nutrition, and Psychology from Drexel University in 2018 and Lower Merion High School in 2013.