BCR is proud of our lineup of sweep and sculling coaches.

Click on a name below for more information, and for contact information to schedule a private rowing clinic.

Fran O'Rourke has a combined 10 years rowing and coaching experience in Division I college athletics. Most recently she spent four years as an Assistant Coach at Indiana University, in Bloomington, where she had a profound impact on the Hoosier program. This past season, O'Rourke's second varsity four won Indiana's first ever Big Ten medal in a varsity event, with a third place finish. Fran was responsible for all aspects of the novice program and saw beginning athletes through to Division I, Big Ten varsity competition. Prior to joining the IU program in August 2004, O'Rourke spent two seasons as the women's intern rowing coach at her alma mater, Cornell University. As an athlete at Cornell, O'Rourke led the first varsity four through an undefeated season her sophomore year and continued to bring in top finishes with her crew through her senior year when she was voted co-captain of the Cornell team. Fran brings experience plus unbridled enthusiasm to her coaching which comes from her deep love of rowing. Contact her at franimal2002@yahoo.com.

Lauren Rubini, current Head Girls Coach for Colorado Junior Crew, began rowing on the east coast in 7th grade. She raced for her local high school, T.C. Williams, in Alexandria, VA as well as in the Olympic Festival and Junior Worlds. She attended Boston University on a full athletic scholarship through rowing. Lauren has raced in both sweep and sculling and has coached at all levels. She currently is a teacher in the Boulder Valley School District and coaches for BCR sweep programs. Email Lauren at lulurubini@gmail.com.

Brittany is the Learn to Row coach for Boulder Community Rowing. This is her second season coaching with BCR. Last year she coached Learn to Row and Novice sessions. Her rowing career started at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio where she rowed competitively for 4 years. In addition to racing, Brittany was the treasurer, novice coach and substitute coxswain. After returning to her hometown of Chicago, she rowed for the Lincoln Park Boat Club and raced with the women's competitive program, was the women's team captain and the club rowing director. Brittany currently works for Level 3 Communications in Broomfield and resides in the Denver Highlands with her Chocolate Labrador, Katie. Contact Brittany at brittanysever@yahoo.com

Christiana has coached rowing at the high school, collegiate and masters level. She began rowing sweep at Denison University, and after one season of rowing and long hours on an erg, was invited to the 2006 National Team Development Program on the Charles River in Boston, MA. There she was coached by the women's coaches at Harvard and Northeastern on sculling and small boats. That summer she was introduced to coaching through an internship at the Crafsbury Sculling Center in Vermont, where she focused on coaching masters in singles. She went on to compete on a national level in the single, and went abroad to New Zealand to row sweep and sculling for the University of Otago. After New Zealand, Christiana began coaching learn-to-row at Greater Columbus Rowing Assocation. That fall she coached the varsity women at Denison, and the following summer was promoted to Program Director and Head Coach of GCRA's learn-to-row program.This past fall, she was invited to be the women's novice coach for Upper Arlington High School and led them to a very successful season. This winter she moved to Boulder to pursue a career as a professional triathlete, and was thrilled to learn that she could continue coaching rowing despite the shortage of water in Colorado! She is the head coach and program director for Colorado Junior Crew, and will be coaching the experienced sweep group at BCR, learn-to-scull and private sculling lessons.

Josh began rowing for Ithaca College in 1990 and instantly fell in love with the sport. He continued his rowing after graduation at Baltimore Rowing Club, where he began coaching in 1996. While coaching for Baltimore, he also began coaching at Towson University, and eventually became Head Coach of their program, overseeing 3-4 coaches and 70 rowers a year. Josh has coached men and women of all ages, from juniors to seniors, for sprint and head races alike. Last year he coached BCR's spring racing program to very successful finishes at NW Regional Masters Championships. This year, Josh will coach the Racing 1 and 3 programs. Josh is also the club's Vice President, Equipment Committee Chair, and part of the hiring committee for the club. Email Josh at josh.pineda.516@gmail.com.

The scheduling of equipment is on a first-come, first-served basis. You can reserve boats up to 6 days in advance. Please verify that a boat is available for any privately scheduled lesson. Private boats may be also used for sculling lessons.

To use the club's sculling equipment on your own, you must be certified by a BCR coach. Please refer to the Rules section below for information on how to become certified to use BCR sculls.

Currently our fleet consists of:

• Exciting news! We're expecting six brand new Peinerts for this season!
• 1 Hudson double
• 1 BBG racing double

Club Singles (including Peinerts) and Hudson Double (Purple) bow seat:

Must be certified by a coach, which includes the following:

• Rower has demonstrated understanding of basic boat-handling skills.
• Rower is able to carry the boat and oars down to the water on own either overhead, on shoulder, or with dolly.
• Rower is able to demonstrate awareness of personal safety and safety of other boats/people on the water.
• Rower has demonstrated basic boat-handling skills on the water, including rowing, backing, turning in place, launching, docking, stopping quickly, and looking over the shoulder to steer.
• Rower has performed a "flip test" with a BCR coach present. Must demonstrate ability to either get back into boat or swim to shore using the boat as a flotation device.
• Rower has attested to acknowledgement and understanding of the risk involved in participation in a water sport and unsupervised use of BCR equipment. Rower has been instructed to carry a PFD for safety.
• Rower has demonstrated an understanding of safe and unsafe water, weather, and wind conditions. Knows traffic pattern and best ways to handle large wakes from speedboats. Understands merit of staying close to shore and uses good judgment about when to get off the water.

Alden Double:

Can be used by any certified club member.

BBG Double (Kathi S.):

Must have steered (i.e., gone out in a single or sat bow in Alden or other double) 50 miles before being bow seat in this boat (or have constant coach supervision).

• 50 miles = 40 wide laps around the Reservoir

Vespoli 1x:

Must have steered 30 certified laps in another single AND have additional coach permission before taking out this single (or have constant coach supervision).

Vespoli M2 4x:

Unsupervised Rows (i.e., no coach present): Must be rowed WITH a coxswain. The bow rower must be certified to row bow in the Kathi S (per rules above).

Supervised Rows (i.e., with a coach present): May be rowed WITHOUT a coxswain. The bow must be certified to row bow in the Kathi S (per rules above) and/or designated by the coach.

If you feel that you can be "grandfathered" in for rowing any boat, please contact the Board of Directors at info@boulderrowing.com with your justification and it will be considered.

For the independent scull rower wanting to improve their on-water performance, these programs provide opportunity for periodic coaching. While the offerings are minimal, the content will be plentiful. Both programs will include a short introduction/review of safety on the reservoir.

NOVICE/INTERMEDIATE
Schedule: Tuesdays from 5:45 am to 7:15 am
Must have completed Learn to Scull or a similar introductory sculling program, have prior sculling experience and be checked off to use a club boat without coach supervision. The days may vary in theme but will primarily be focused on technique rather than fitness. The number of participants per day is limited to 8.

Novice/Intermedate Sculling I: April 20th - July 6th
Cost: $175
Sign Up!

Novice/Intermedate Sculling II: July 13th - September 28th
Cost: $175
Sign Up!

ADVANCED and RACING
Each participant must have coach permission to enroll. Days will be dominated by moving work to combine technique with fitness in accordance with the needs of the group. Number of participants per day is limited to 12.

Advanced/Racing Sculling I: April 21st - July 7th
Cost: $175
Sign Up!

Advanced/Racing Sculling II: July 14th - September 29th
Cost: $175
Sign Up!

Punch Card Option
Four day punch card - $100 Sign Up!
Drop in rate - $35
The punch card must be used for the session purchased. In order to allow the coach to properly prep, at the beginning of each session punch card holders are asked to indicate which days they intend to participate. For drop-in, contact the session coach to assess availability of seats.

CURRICULUM and PARTICIPATION REQUIREMENTS
Refer to the Program Document for details.

FOR MORE INFORMATION
Mark Venezia, Program Coordinator

Four (4) Learn-to-Scull (LTS) programs are offered this year. The object of these programs is to introduce individuals to sculling. The programs include 6 sessions spread over the course of two weeks. This program is designed to acquaint the interested with the sport of sculling. Different from sweep, in a scull the rower operates with two oars instead of one. Boats range in size from 1x, for one person, 2x, for two people and 4x, for four people. In this program participants will become familiar with the equipment used for sculling and begin to build a skill base, which will allow them to operate a boat independently. Upon completion of the program, if any individual wishes to continue to use BCR equipment they must pass the scull certification test that can be administered by the coach during the program. Enrollment is capped at 6 participants.

SCHEDULE
Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday 6:00 am - 7:30 am

LTS I: May 25th - June 4th Sign Up
LTS II: June 28th - July 9th Sign Up
LTS III: July 27th - August 6th Sign Up
LTS IV: August 24th - September 3rd Sign Up

PROGRAM FEE
Members: $175
Non-members: $225 (of which $100 may be applied towards club membership)

CURRICULUM and PARTICIPATION REQUIREMENTS
Refer to the Program Document for details.

FOR MORE INFORMATION
Mark Venezia, Program Coordinator

Private or Semi-Private Lessons

Learn to scull on your own schedule or work on specific techniques by taking private or semi-private lessons. Dates and times are arranged between you and a coach. You can bring your own boat or use one of ours.

Non-members: are responsible for paying the Reservoir entrance fee, and are not allowed to enter the reservoir outside of normal business hours.

Private lessons cannot be signed up for or scheduled on Regatta Central. Contact Mark Venezia for a list of coaches and to schedule a lesson.

For more information or to discuss sculling options, please contact Mark Venezia .

Clinics for 2010 are still being scheduled, check back soon!

Costs
Members: $35/day
Non-members: $45/day plus reservoir entrance fee
Private: $85/boat