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!

Jeff started rowing as a walk-on at the University of Rochester in 1995. After graduation, he continued to compete in the single and started his coaching journey with the newly formed Brighton Rowing Club. He led the novice club to their first away races, introducing them to the broader rowing community. The club saw explosive growth in their first years and helped start the McQuaid and Mercy rowing teams under their umbrella. At their peak, Brighton had over 60 athletes and 6 full-time coaches (Heather and Lucas were there!). They were sending multiple boys and girls varsity eights to NY States. In his years as a coach, he worked with the full range of crews: novice and varsity, boys and girls, Brighton and McQuaid.

He and his wife met while they were coaching together. Jeff took a hiatus from rowing and coaching while raising a family and earning his master’s degree. He returned to coaching in 2018 with Brighton Rowing and later the Genesee Waterways Center. He coaches Brighton as his schedule allows. He directs and coaches the adult rowing programs at GWC and has even taught some of the Brighton Rowing parents to row.

Jeff earned his bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Rochester and his master’s from Rochester Institute of Technology. During the day he is an FPGA engineer at MKS Instruments, designing controls for plasma generation systems. In his spare time, he plays bass guitar.

Heather started rowing as a walk on with the club team at the University of Rhode Island in 1996. In 1998 the women's program was promoted to varsity status and Heather began training as a D1 athlete, culminating in a silver medal in the women's quad her senior year at the Atlantic 10 Championships.

Heather began coaching in 2003 with Brighton Rowing Club.  She primarily coached the varsity girls team, and became head coach from 2005-07.  She took a hiatus from coaching to have her second child.  She then coached for Mercy for the 2010-11 school year before returning to full time parenting of two small kids in Brighton.  She was the Assistant Coach at the University of Rochester from 2015-2018, in charge of the women's novice program.  She returned to Brighton Rowing Club when her daughter started to row in the spring of 2022.

In addition to coaching and raising a family, Heather enjoys sailing and crafting in her free time.