Coaches

Coach Ogden began rowing in 1985 in Cazenovia, a small suburb of Syracuse.  Coming to the SUNY Geneseo team with 8 years of rowing experience he rowed in varsity boats his freshman year.  He was elected captain twice, which in those days meant unofficial coach, as there was no funding for an actual coach. 

 

After heading to the University of Maine to study climate change and then to New Hampshire to work in adolescent psychology, he and his wife returned to Rochester and he started coaching for Brighton Rowing Club. He went on to the University of Rochester for a degree in education and began teaching 8th grade science in Brighton at TCMS. 

 

He left BRC full time in 2005 because of the constraints of the new job as well as the two young children at home. He returned to BRC in 2021 and is happy to be back on the water!

Coach Lauren O’Dell has been a member of the rowing community for more than half her life! Prior to rowing, she had tried every youth sport, but nothing ever truly clicked.
During the summer of 2013, after signing up for Pittsford Crew’s Learn-to-Row program, she sat in the boat for the first time, and the rest is history. O’Dell helped Pittsford Crew’s Varsity Girls team achieve top finishing times at USRowing Youth Nationals, Head of the Charles, Head of the Fish, St. Catherines Invitational, as well as the Royal Canadian Henley.

 

Throughout her rowing career, Coach O’Dell has been in every seat in every kind of boat, even an 8x! After graduating from Victor High School in 2017, she was recruited to Hobart & William Smith Colleges, where she was fortunate to make the boat that attended Head of the Charles, helping the Herons capture a top half finish.

 

After transferring to Ithaca College for her sophomore year, Coach O’Dell was one of the youngest members on IC’s sculling team, breaking numerous records in the 2x as well as finishing 1st in the Women’s Collegiate 2x event at Head of the Fish. She also was 7-seat in the HOCR 8+ that finished 4th. In the Spring of 2019, O’Dell made the NCAA Championships squad, helping the IC Bombers place 1st in their league, and 4th overall in the nation for Division III.

 

After graduating college in 2021, O’Dell participated in Flower City Rowing, a competitive team through Genesee Rowing Club, where she rowed in both big and small boats. Her passion for both sweeping and sculling inspired her to return to the sport in a different role: coach. Throughout the 2022 Spring and Fall seasons, O’Dell coached for the University of Rochester’s Women’s Rowing team. She has also
coached modified squads for Pittsford Crew, as well as the master’s Learn-to-Scull program for GRC. Not only has she coached rowing, but O’Dell was also a runner throughout high school and into college. She coached Modified Indoor and Outdoor Track & Field for Victor throughout the 2023 and 2024 school years while getting her Master’s degree in Secondary ELA Education at the University of Rochester.

 

Now, as an English teacher at Brighton High School, Coach O’Dell is so excited to take on this new role as Novice Coach for BRC.