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:

• 2 Peinert singles
• 1 Vespoli single
• 2 Little River Marine Olympia 25s
• 2 Little River Marine Pro Am 25s
• 1 Recreational Alden convertible single/double
• 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. Participants who are not full BCR members must have their own equipment.

NOVICE/INTERMEDIATE
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.

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.

SCHEDULE
Novice/Intermediate- Thursday, 5:45 am- 7:15 am.  Advanced & Racing- Wednesday, 5:45 am- 7:15 am.
Schedule for Scull II will be assessed and may be altered.
Scull I: 12 weeks, May 6th- July 23rd
Scull II: 12 weeks, July 29th- October 15th

COST
Four day punch card - $125 Sign Up!
Eight day punch card - $200 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.

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 which can be administered by the coach during the program. LTR I is for returning BCR members only. Other session may be added later in the summer. If you are not a BCR member and are interested in this program, please contact Mark Venezia to have you name included on the contact list if more programs are added.

SCHEDULE
Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday 6:00 am- 7:30 am
LTS I: May 26th- June 5th

PROGRAM FEE
$175

FOR MORE INFORMATION
Mark Venezia, Program Coordinator

TO SIGN UP for LTS I go through your Regatta Central account.

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.

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

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

All of our clinics are intended to benefit those who scull by providing coached, technique-oriented sessions on a one-off/series basis, and to encourage the use of independent, smaller boats as a way to get more time on the water and become a better all-around rower.

June 11th-14th scull with Renee Hykel

A five time national team member, Renee has successfully competed in numerous national and international rowing competitions including Head of the Charles, FISA Worlds and the Olympic Games in Beijing. For a longer list of Renee’s rowing accomplishments, click here.

Wednesday June 10th 6PM
Spend an evening with Renee and other clinic participants. Over drinks and appetizers, meet Renee to discuss fitness, rowing technique and your goals for the clinic. Event limited to clinic participants. Location to be announced.

Thursday June 11th
6:00 am- 8:00 am Novice and Intermediate rowers in singles and doubles
8:30 am- 10:30 am Quad Clinic

Friday June 12th
6:00- 8:00 am Advanced technique and racing strategy in singles and doubles.
8:30- 10:30 am Quad Clinic

Saturday June 13th
FIELD TRIP to 9500 ft!! We are headed to Lake Dillon in Frisco for the day.
Join Renee and other scullers for a big day on the water. Explore the nooks and crannies of this immense reservoir with rowers from Frisco and other Front Range clubs. Once off the water we will convene at the Dam Brewery for lunch. This event is open to all abilities. Meet at Boulder Reservoir, 5:30 am, to caravan to Frisco.

Sunday June 14th
Private lessons available.

CLINIC FEE
Single and Double clinics- $35 per day for BCR members, $45 for non members.
The Quad clinics are $30/person.

PRIVATE LESSONS
Private lessons with Renee are available Thursday, Friday, Saturday after 11am and Sunday morning. Cost is $85/boat. Session length is 1.5 hours.

FOR MORE INFORMATION
Mark Venezia, Program Coordinator
He will coordinate all BCR boat use/availability.

TO SIGN UP for a CLINIC
Participation is limited so sign up soon. We will wait list and possibly add more clinic time if necessary.
Contact Mark Venezia to sign up for the clinics or to schedule lessons.