High school rowing coaches see growth opportunity as University of Toledo adds team

Mike Dibling, chair of the Toledo Rowing Foundation, had two daughters who rowed at a high level.

With no Division I rowing programs in the area, they went to West Virginia University.

In a news conference announcing that the University of Toledo is adding varsity women’s rowing for the 2025-26 season, Athletic Director Bryan Blair explained that he viewed the program as a way of creating opportunities that did not exist for Dibling’s daughters.

“When you think about your daughters rowing here on the Maumee, they went on to row collegiately,” he told Dibling. “And now just having the opportunity for [girls like] them to stay right at home and have an education at the University of Toledo, but also be a division one rower and champion, that’s what really excites me.”

High school coaches in the area believe that the addition of a college program closer to home will have several positive effects on the rowing scene in the area.

New college opportunities

For the roughly 150 high schoolers who row out of the Toledo Boathouse Dibling runs and their parents, it means that chasing a scholarship does not necessarily require them to move away from the city.

“It’s for sure going to have the potential to keep some of the rowers who do go on to college, it gives them an opportunity to stay local,” Dibling said. “Does everybody want to stay in town? A lot of people in college want to go away to school, but it’s good to have that opportunity here.”

Tess Luebke, a rising junior at Notre Dame Academy, has already begun to think about the idea of continuing her rowing career in college. While there is still a long process between now and then, she was excited about the prospect of potentially competing for her hometown school.

“I like that I would be close to home because I live in Toledo, I grew up here, so I think that would be really nice,” she said. “And it would be really exciting to be a part of a growing program.”

With the university planning to row out of the boathouse shared by several high schools and club programs, athletes will have increased visibility for the UT coaches. However, Nicole Alderson, executive assistant athletic director, emphasized that NCAA rules still restrict the amount of contact coaches can have.

She also highlighted that the benefits of a shared facility extend in the other direction, as well.

“It’s an opportunity for those young women to see Division 1 collegiate rowers every single morning and just what it takes to row at that next level,” Alderson said. “I think it helps them too to see what goes into it, not just from a training standpoint, but that dedication to being a student-athlete, and being able to do both [sports and academics] and be great at both.”

Growing the sport

The impact on the sport goes far beyond the recruiting process, however. In fact, several high school coaches in the area believe that the primary gains will come in the form of increased participation.

Perrysburg high school coach Ethan Peters explained that a university program will address one of the biggest problems facing the rowing community: exposure.

“It’s really going to help increase the visibility of our sport,” Peters said. “We’re still a growing sport, not just here, but across the country.”

To that effect, three girls joined the team their senior year, and immediately said that if they had known about it sooner, they would have started as freshmen.

Even in the three weeks since the university has announced they are adding women’s rowing, more than two dozen people have joined the Toledo Rowing Foundation.

Cat Sprague, who coaches at Notre Dame Academy, feels confident that once more high schoolers see rowing and give it a chance, they will stick with it.

“The biggest hurdle in getting rowers is they don’t even know the sport,” Sprague said. “But now that there’s a college that has it, they’ll be more likely to see it, which then they’re like, ‘Wait, how do I get into it?’... That’s kind of the first step is just bringing bodies to try it out, and generally, once you’re on the water, it’s a sport like nothing else and they fall in love with it.”

With the city attempting to revitalize the riverfront area and the university partnering with the Metroparks, it seems likely that regattas will become a draw for Toledo residents. For those unfamiliar with the experience, regattas can resemble something of a lawn party.

Jennifer Cromly, who heads the parents association at Perrysburg, believes that the communal spirit surrounding the sport will help attract new athletes and their parents.

“We really become a family,” she said. “We cook two meals at regattas. Parents are there. The kids are there. The camaraderie just cannot be replicated because they show up at 6:00 a.m. They work together to get the boats ready. They have breakfast, they row, they cheer for each other, they have lunch, and then they have to work together to get the boats back.”

One potential barrier to entry facing the sport is that Perrysburg is the only public school in northwest Ohio to offer rowing. If Toledo really hopes to see significant growth moving forward, the next steps will be to make high school competition more accessible and clubs more affordable.

In the meantime, however, the prospect of 60 new scholarship opportunities at UT marks a step in the right direction.