William Tran

Philadelphia, PA · from Chicago, IL

WilliamTran

Founder & CEO of RowIQ · D1 Rower · CS Student

William Tran, founder of RowIQ

About

I build software for the sport I compete in. I'm a senior studying computer science at La Salle University, I row five seat in the first varsity eight, and in between those two things I started RowIQ — a performance analytics platform for rowers and the coaches who train them.

The idea came from the gap I kept hitting as an athlete. Erg data is everywhere and almost none of it is usable in the moment. Coaches read splits off a screen and guess at technique. I wanted the force curve — the actual shape of how power gets applied through the drive — to be something a coach could see live, across a whole boat, without stopping practice.

I grew up in Chicago and rowed for Lincoln Park Boat Club. Before La Salle I spent a year at the University of San Diego, where I raced on the Padyak cycling team. Outside of rowing and code I spend time on art history and short-form video, which is less of a detour than it sounds — both are about deciding what to leave out.

My favorite word is entropy because even though life is chaotic and random we know that it's chaotic and random therefore it's actually not because we know it is. This is my inner peace.

Founder Work

RowIQ

Performance analytics for serious rowers and the coaches who train them.

RowIQ connects to a Concept2 PM5 over Bluetooth and logs every stroke automatically — no manual entry, no clipboard. Athletes get live split, pace, watts, stroke rate and heart rate, plus force-curve analysis and readiness scoring pulled from Apple Watch HRV and sleep. Coaches get a live race board for the whole roster, training plans they can publish, and a film room for reviewing technique against the data.

Built for
Serious college and high school athletes, and their coaches
Hardware
Concept2 PM5 over Bluetooth
Core
Real-time force curve analysis
Coach view
Live dashboard across the full squad
Exports
Strava, Concept2 Logbook

Also building

  1. 2026

    RowIQ Fuel · Nutrition companion

    AI food logger built as a companion to RowIQ — athletes track fuelling against training load instead of guessing. Android, deployed on Render.

  2. 2026

    Long Distance · Personal project

    A widget that keeps a small, always-on window open between two people in a long-distance relationship. Built for one person in particular.

Rowing

  1. Now

    La Salle University, first varsity eight

    Five seat, Division I men's rowing scholarship athlete.

  2. 2026

    Dad Vail Regatta — bronze, 1V8

    Five seat in the first varsity eight.

  3. 2025

    Dad Vail Regatta — bronze, 2V8

    Boat finished the season ranked 21st nationally after a sixth-place C final at the IRA National Championship.

  4. 2024

    USRowing U23 National Champion

    Gold in the men's lightweight single. Top 1% national ranking.

  5. 2023

    USRowing Youth Nationals — finalist

    Sixth place, rowing for Lincoln Park Boat Club. Also completed a 100k endurance row in 7.5 hours.

Work & Education

  1. 2025 — Present

    Founder & CEO · RowIQ LLC

    Rowing performance analytics platform, published on the App Store. Live erg data, force-curve analysis, and a coach dashboard for the whole squad.

  2. 2022 — Present

    Founder · Rowing College Recruiting Service

    Recruiting platform and coaching service that has helped 30+ athletes earn Division I offers, generating $8.5K+ through training plans and performance analytics.

  3. Filed

    Patent Pending · USPTO #18/593,142

    “Weight, Force, and Acceleration Measurements.” An independent invention, separate from my work on RowIQ.

  4. Summer 2024

    Data Analytics Intern · MonoSol Kuraray

    Built efficiency reports that improved operational decision speed and data accuracy.

  5. 2022 — Present

    Creator · YouTube — @chainyanka

    Rowing and athletics channel, 900+ subscribers and 110K+ views. Also hold a trademark on the “Let's Row” mark.

  6. Expected 2027

    La Salle University

    B.S. Computer Science, minor in Psychology · GPA 3.55

  7. 2023 — 2024

    University of San Diego

    Raced on the Padyak cycling team · transferred via the NCAA portal

  8. Class of 2023

    Lane Tech College Prep

    Chicago, IL · Lincoln Park Boat Club

Contact

Building something in rowing, or hiring? Email is fastest.

wtran1@rowiqapp.com