Entering his seventh season at K-State, Patrick Sweeney brings over 30 years of international and collegiate coaching experience to the Wildcat program, including tenures with the British and Belgian Olympic teams.

As an international coach, Sweeney took crews to 11 World Championships and four Olympic Games. He has collected two gold, two silver, and one bronze medal at the World Championships and one gold and one bronze at the Olympics. In addition, he won four national championships while at the University of California.

Once on staff with the Wildcats, Sweeney made immediate changes, making his first mark with an 1V8+ victory at SIRAs in 2004. The team continued its development in 2005-06, with the 1V8+ taking second at the San Diego Classic. The 2006-07 season was highlighted by the outstanding performances of the 1N8+ that won SIRAs and the NCAA Central Regional title. Sweeney's more recent novice crews continue to be dominant, especially in their early season showings as the 2008-09 1N8+ tallied a commanding win at the 2008 Head of the Des Moines.

The top crew of Sweeney's tenure has been the 2008-09 1V8+. The winningest Wildcat crew Sweeney has assembled, their accolades include capturing gold at the Head of the Des Moines, defeating Alabama on its own Black Warrior River, clenching a tightly contested third at the San Diego Crew Classic, producing a convincing victory over rival KU to secure the Kansas Cup as well as the crew's ultimate feat of a gold medal finish at the Big 12 Championship.

Sweeney arrived at K-State in 2003 after a one-year appointment as the associate men's varsity coach at Stanford. Prior to his year there, Sweeney was head coach and technical director of the Belgian Olympic Team for six years.

A multiple champion as a coxswain, Sweeney began his competitive career at the age of 12 for club crews in his native England. He eventually progressed to the British National Team, where he competed as a coxswain in eight World Championships (2 gold, 3 silver) and three Olympic Games (1 silver, 1 bronze). Sweeney began his coaching career in 1976, while still competing for the British National Team.

A native of London, England, Sweeney and his wife, Martha, have a daughter, Toula (11).