She graduated from Waupun High School in 1984 at Waupun, Wisconsin. She attended the University of Wisconsin where she started coxing in 1984. She then was voted Captain and Most Valuable Player her senior year.
She finished 6th in the women"s eight at the 1992 Summer Olympics and 4th in the women"s eight at the 1996 Summer Olympics.
In 2006, Farooq became the head coach of Stanford University"s women"s rowing team In 2009, she led the team to Stanford"s first National Collegiate Athletic Association Team Title in rowing. The Stanford varsity eight set an National Collegiate Athletic Association record of 6:11.95 en route to victory in the grand final.
The team title was solidified with a third-place finish by the second varsity eight and a fifth-place finish by the varsity four.
In 2011, Stanford finished in a tie with Brown University for first place in the National Collegiate Athletic Association team standings, but they lost the tie-breaker by.05 in the first varsity eight grand final. In 2014, Farooq led the Cardinal women to their first Pac 12 Conference Title.
Stanford swept all three varsity events. The Cardinal went on to finish fourth at the National Collegiate Athletic Association Championships in Indianapolis, Indiana. She was also inducted in the National Rowing Hall of Fame for her contributions to the United States National Rowing Team as a coxswain.
Farooq has worked as rowing commentator for National Broadcasting Company"s Olympic broadcasts in Sydney 2000, Athens 2004, Beijing 2008, and London 2012.
Foreign National Broadcasting Company, she also is the rowing analyst for National Broadcasting Company"s Universal Sports, covering World Cup regattas and the World Championships. Farooq is married to Roger Waterman, a television cameraman and producer. In their spare time they produce instructional Digital Video Disc"s for coaching coxswains.
Yasmin also hosts COXSWAINation.com: a web resource for rowing coaches and coxswains.
In her second year at the helm, the Stanford varsity eight won a silver medal at the National Collegiate Athletic Association Championships, and she was named Pac-10 Coach of the Year. Also in 2009, Farooq was named 2009 Coach of the Year by the Rowing News, and also earned "Joy of Sculling Coaches Conference Award for University Women"s Coach of the Year" at the 17th Annual Joy of Sculling Conference. In 2012, Farooq served as coach of the United States Under-23 women"s eight which won a gold medal at the Under-23 World Championships in Trakai, Lithuania. Farooq was named Pac 12 Coach of the Year.
