Norman – University of Oklahoma Vice President and Director of Athletics Joe Castiglione announced the employment of Sarah Trowbridge (TRO-bridge) as the second head coach of the Sooners’ rowing program on Wednesday.
A 2012 U.S. Olympian, Trowbridge comes to Norman with an impressive resume as a coach and athlete on the collegiate and international circuit. She takes over following the retirement of OU’s 14-year head coach Leeanne Crain.
Trowbridge spent the past two years as the head women’s varsity coach for the Princeton National Rowing Association (PNRA). She also has collegiate coaching experience from her time at the helm of the University of San Diego women’s rowing program from 2017-19.
“We are thrilled to welcome Sarah, her husband Bryan, and their children Otto and Quincy to our OU family and the Norman community,” Castiglione said. “She has competed at the highest level as an Olympian and her experiences at the pinnacle of the sport will be an incredibly valuable asset to this program. Along with her proven success, Sara brings an incredible energy and passion that will to be infectious. to our student-athletes. She has a strong competitive spirit and knows the importance of doing things the right way, which will help her fit right in here at Oklahoma.”
“She has competed at the highest level as an Olympian and her experiences at the pinnacle of the sport will be an incredibly valuable asset to this program.”
– Joe Castiglione
In Trowbridge’s two years (2021 and ’22) with the PNRA, the team won the USRowing Mid-Atlantic Conference Championships twice, capturing five total events to qualify for the USRowing Youth National Championships on both occasions. The boats she oversaw finished third (2021 Women’s Pair), fourth (2022 Women’s Eight) and fifth (2021 Women’s Straight Four) on the national stage. Every U19 boat the club entered in the National Youth Championships finished in the top 10.
Prior to her tenure at the PNRA, Trowbridge directed the San Diego women’s rowing program for two seasons. She led the Toreros to two first-out-of-three finishes (third in 2018, second in 2019) at the West Coast Conference Championships. Five rowers received All-WCC recognition and 11 earned WCC All-Academic honors. She left the West Coast to move in with her family after her husband, Bryan Volpenhein, accepted a job as the head coach of the men’s rowing program at Penn.
In a short stint as a high performance coach at Vesper Boat Club in Philadelphia in 2017, Trowbridge taught five athletes who competed at the 2017 World Championships and won four silver medals and one bronze medal. The club also won its sixth consecutive National Club Spinning Championship, capturing all three points titles.
From 2012-15, Trowbridge served as an assistant coach on the Yale women’s rowing staff and helped lead the Bulldogs to a ninth-place finish at the 2015 NCAA Championships. program history — and the second-eighth varsity finished fourth.
Trowbridge’s first collegiate coaching job was at Georgetown from 2006-08, where she worked primarily with the freshman varsity boats and served as the lead recruiting coordinator.
“To say I am excited to join the University of Oklahoma community is an understatement. To be a part of the OU Athletic Department and tradition of excellence Joe Castiglione has built with a culture to perform at the highest level is a dream for me.”
– Sarah Trowbridge
“To say I am excited to join the University of Oklahoma community is an understatement,” Trowbridge said. “Being a part of the OU Athletics Department and tradition of excellence Joe Castiglione has built with a culture of performance at the highest level is a dream for me. It hits you right away that the people make this a very special place to study, compete, train and thrive.
“The people here have amazing spirit and warmth and such great energy. Starting with the trainer Leeanne Crain who built a program from the first boats to a state-of-the-art rowing training center and from the first athletes to a major team that aimed to compete with the nation’s best teams. I want to wish Coach Crain the best in her next chapter and thank her for all she has done for OU Rowing.
“I came to OU because I believe it offers a unique student-athlete experience where departmental support and campus culture enable rowers to reach their highest potential. I came because sooner MAGIC is everywhere and the athletic department’s core values are visible in everything you do. And I came because I’m looking forward to working with this current team and seeing what they can achieve, as well as getting the word out to rowers around the country and the world that you can have an amazing rowing career and have access to more academic options for long-term job success than most anywhere.
“I want to thank you Joe Castiglione for this opportunity and look forward to getting to work as the OU Rowing coach. Boomer Faster!”
During the collegiate rowing off-season, Trowbridge has taken the opportunity to showcase her trade on the international stage on numerous occasions. She has coached the United States women’s teams to a sixth-place finish at the Olympics (2016) and one silver and two bronze medals at five separate world championships (2015-19).. In addition, she coached the US men’s teams at the 2015 Senior and U23 World Championships. Most recently, she coached the Trinidad and Tobago women’s program at the 2020 Olympics.
As an athlete, Trowbridge has been a member of six US senior national teams and represented the US at the 2012 London Olympics, where her boat finished sixth in the women’s double sculls. In four consecutive years at the World Championships (2008-11) she won silver medals in the quadruple sculls (2009) and quadruple sculls (2008) and finished fifth in the quadruple sculls and ninth in the double sculls in 2010 and 2011, respectively. Her boat took gold in the sculls and silver in the sculls at the 2007 Pan American Games.
“I have watched Sarah develop as an athlete, coach and person over the past 15 years,” said Matt Madigan, Trowbridge’s coach during the 2012 Olympics. “She works hard to be the best and improves those around her . She will take the time necessary to hone her skills, communicate and teach student-athletes, and build a team culture of success. T-Row has high expectations for all. aspects of rowing and brings out the best — mentally, physically and technically — from each individual athlete. She is also a tenacious competitor who loves to win. I am excited to see the positive impact she will have on the OU rowing program.”
Trowbridge grew up in Washington, D.C., and moved to Guilford, Conn., for high school. She began rowing as a high school senior with Blood Street Sculls and earned a spot on the University of Michigan rowing team. She helped the Wolverines win back-to-back Big Ten championships and earn two top-five finishes at the NCAA Championships (fourth in 2003 and third in 2004). She graduated from Michigan in 2006 with a degree in English.
Trowbridge man Bryan is also very successful in the rowing community. Beyond his role with Penn, he is a three-time Olympian and was the head coach of the US National Team for six years. The couple have two children, Otto and Quincy.
Quotes from About Sports
Texas head coach Dave O’Neill
“OU has made a great hire with Sarah Trowbridge. She obviously knows rowing inside and out, but her real strength is her ability to convey what she knows and connect with others. She’s both a fierce competitor and a great person, so it would be great to be in the same conference moving forward.”
Yale coach Will Porter
“Sarah is an amazing coach. I can’t think of a better person to lead a top-level DI program. She knows how to drive inside and out, but her strength is building a winning culture while having fun . I couldn’t be happier for him, Bryan and the kids. OU Rowing is on the move. Bring the covered wagon to the boat!”
