DBC Mission Statement
Our mission is to develop the sport of competitive rowing in Dayton. We provide organized programs for juniors and masters rowing, and we have cultivated a relationship with the University of Dayton rowing programs. We provide a cohesive organization that accommodates different types of members, including men, women, junior high and high-school students of all expertise levels, within the context of a single unified club. Our club culture encourages members to treat each other with respect, to make safety and enjoyable achievement our highest goals, and to understand and care for our common equipment and facilities. We pride ourselves on our high retention rate and our excellent competitive results. Our top goals: retaining athletes and properly preparing them for life long enjoyment of the sport.
Our mission is to develop the sport of competitive rowing in Dayton. We provide organized programs for juniors and masters rowing, and we have cultivated a relationship with the University of Dayton rowing programs. We provide a cohesive organization that accommodates different types of members, including men, women, junior high and high-school students of all expertise levels, within the context of a single unified club. Our club culture encourages members to treat each other with respect, to make safety and enjoyable achievement our highest goals, and to understand and care for our common equipment and facilities. We pride ourselves on our high retention rate and our excellent competitive results. Our top goals: retaining athletes and properly preparing them for life long enjoyment of the sport.
Our Beginnings
The Dayton Boat Club was founded in 2003 to provide competitive-focused juniors and masters rowing programs, along an optimal stretch of the Great Miami River. After nearly two years of searching for an appropriate site to accommodate the growing sport in Dayton, the club began as two legal organizations initially (Dayton Boat Club and also Dayton Junior Rowing, Inc), with a group of masters women who had been rowing through the University of Dayton, and a new junior program focused on developing highly competitive crews locally and achieving high school varsity letter status. The DBC founders understood that rowing is a sport requiring commitment and work, and therefore the rewards must be tangible: achieving competitiveness pays off in a high retention rate with happy athletes. The University of Dayton Men’s Rowing Club moved to the first DBC site in West Carrollton upon site establishment, and the UD Women’s program followed after DBC built its permanent site in Moraine, off of East River Road, in 2006.
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Team and individual accolades have continued to pile up for DBC athletes: · Two NCAA All Americans- Bethany Brun in 2008 and Molly Bruggeman in 2011, 2012 and 2013 · Five NCAA team captains, and nine NCAA all-conference selections · Seven DBC members with USRowing national team, development, or selection camp experience · Two Golds at the World Under-23 Championships and Gold at the PanAm games for Molly Bruggeman · Three NCAA Champions – Sarah Peffley, Annie Haley, and Bethany Brun. · DBC alums coaching at NCAA programs including Louisville, UD, Tennessee, Wesleyan, MIT, Clemson, West Virginia and Colgate and a number of junior programs · Approximately 35 rowers and coxswains continuing rowing at Varsity collegiate programs…and typically thriving during those collegiate years.
In 2013 Dayton Boat Club was invited by USRowing and Five Rivers MetroParks to join an exciting new program to continue the development of the sport in Dayton. Dayton Regional Rowing, the nation’s only Community Olympic Development Program for rowing, is a partnership between USRowing, Five Rivers MetroParks, the Dayton Boat Club and Greater Dayton Rowing Association. The United States Olympic Committee-designated Dayton Regional Rowing provides athletes new opportunities and enhances the Dayton region’s outdoor recreation offerings. The mission of Dayton Regional Rowing is to provide lifelong personal development and active lifestyles for Miami Valley youth through the sport of rowing. Dayton Regional Rowing collaborates with the USOC and USRowing to offer a community-based rowing program that helps athletes develop their performance, thus enhancing the Olympic sports feeder system in Dayton.
In 2013 Dayton Boat Club was invited by USRowing and Five Rivers MetroParks to join an exciting new program to continue the development of the sport in Dayton. Dayton Regional Rowing, the nation’s only Community Olympic Development Program for rowing, is a partnership between USRowing, Five Rivers MetroParks, the Dayton Boat Club and Greater Dayton Rowing Association. The United States Olympic Committee-designated Dayton Regional Rowing provides athletes new opportunities and enhances the Dayton region’s outdoor recreation offerings. The mission of Dayton Regional Rowing is to provide lifelong personal development and active lifestyles for Miami Valley youth through the sport of rowing. Dayton Regional Rowing collaborates with the USOC and USRowing to offer a community-based rowing program that helps athletes develop their performance, thus enhancing the Olympic sports feeder system in Dayton.
History of Dayton Rowing
The sport of organized rowing in the Dayton region started with the formation of the University of Dayton Rowing Club in the fall of 1991, when a handful of UD students began practicing on the Great Miami River near Island Park.
With the sponsorship of Professor David Lee, the direction of volunteer coaches Trish and Mike Miles and Recreation Sports Director Don Shade, the students formed the new club which would lead directly to the development of the sport locally. Thousands have since enjoyed rowing as a result. Dr. Lee met with the City of Dayton Parks and Recreation and received permission for the club to store boats on Island Park, and a fenced in area was built to protect the equipment. The club purchased their first boat and oars from the Miami University Rowing Club in 1991 and began daily training. For winter conditioning, the club was provided a storefront on Brown Street by the University to train on indoor rowing machines (‘ergs’) which also provided visibility to the community. |
In the spring of 1992, UD hosted their first regatta on the Great Miami against Xavier University. Substantial publicity from that competition caught the eye of a few area adults interested in the sport. Those four rowers met with the UD club leaders to discuss the formation of a community-based program and to request permission from UD to operate out of the same site/storage facility, and borrow UD equipment to get started. Thus, in 1992, the Greater Dayton Rowing Association (GDRA) joined the UD Rowing club on that stretch of the river.
The year 1996 was a significant year for the club and the sport locally. The club and GDRA moved their equipment into the new three-bay boathouse built by the City of Dayton for the two clubs. The growth of the sport nationwide – especially for women as a result of Yale’s Title IX protest – led the coaches to work with the University administration to evaluate elevation to Varsity status. Ms. Elaine Driademe, the UD Women’s Sports Administrator, established the criteria for varsity status – with the first requirement being a conference championship. With that goal in mind, the UD coaches contacted the Atlantic 10 rowing coaches to kick off initiation of an A-10 Women’s Rowing Championships, which was first held in Philadelphia in May of 1996. Despite being a non-varsity club, UD still managed to finish in the top 4 of the conference, and finished as high as 3rd before being elevated to varsity status in 1999. Also in 1999, Trish Miles became the first rower from the region to achieve official elite status by winning the USRowing National Championship in the lightweight single, which she followed up with a win in the Master’s Single at the prestigious Head of the Charles a few months later.
The next elite rowers – National Team members – to come from the area were ’99 UD Grad Bernadette Marten who won gold at the 2002 World Championships in the US Women’s 8, and 2010 Chaminade Julienne grad and Dayton Boat Club alumna Molly Bruggeman, who won gold medals at the 2014 World U23 Championships and 2015 PanAm games.
Trish concurrently coached a small group of women’s masters rowers (pictured; named the ‘Holy Rowers’ because of their common connection with Holy Angels Church) who rowed through the UD Rowing Club and competed with success regionally. At the same time, Chaminade-Julienne had discussions with the UD coaches about starting a varsity program at CJ. With the need to develop new water beyond Island Park to allow growth, the hope to start a competitive youth program locally with CJ as a sponsor, and the desire of the masters to continue to train together, the Dayton Boat Club was formed.
The year 1996 was a significant year for the club and the sport locally. The club and GDRA moved their equipment into the new three-bay boathouse built by the City of Dayton for the two clubs. The growth of the sport nationwide – especially for women as a result of Yale’s Title IX protest – led the coaches to work with the University administration to evaluate elevation to Varsity status. Ms. Elaine Driademe, the UD Women’s Sports Administrator, established the criteria for varsity status – with the first requirement being a conference championship. With that goal in mind, the UD coaches contacted the Atlantic 10 rowing coaches to kick off initiation of an A-10 Women’s Rowing Championships, which was first held in Philadelphia in May of 1996. Despite being a non-varsity club, UD still managed to finish in the top 4 of the conference, and finished as high as 3rd before being elevated to varsity status in 1999. Also in 1999, Trish Miles became the first rower from the region to achieve official elite status by winning the USRowing National Championship in the lightweight single, which she followed up with a win in the Master’s Single at the prestigious Head of the Charles a few months later.
The next elite rowers – National Team members – to come from the area were ’99 UD Grad Bernadette Marten who won gold at the 2002 World Championships in the US Women’s 8, and 2010 Chaminade Julienne grad and Dayton Boat Club alumna Molly Bruggeman, who won gold medals at the 2014 World U23 Championships and 2015 PanAm games.
Trish concurrently coached a small group of women’s masters rowers (pictured; named the ‘Holy Rowers’ because of their common connection with Holy Angels Church) who rowed through the UD Rowing Club and competed with success regionally. At the same time, Chaminade-Julienne had discussions with the UD coaches about starting a varsity program at CJ. With the need to develop new water beyond Island Park to allow growth, the hope to start a competitive youth program locally with CJ as a sponsor, and the desire of the masters to continue to train together, the Dayton Boat Club was formed.