Welcome to the new rowing head coach, Brock Badgers!
A new age is being rowed in by the Brock Badgers.
On Tuesday, April 9, the Badgers announced Katie Bruggeling as their new head coach.
Bruggeling was voted OUA Coach of the Year after leading the Queen’s Gaels to their first Ontario University Athletics (OUA) Women’s Rowing Championship victory since 2012.
According to Melissa Krist, Executive Director of Brock Sports and Recreation, “Katie has a dynamic background in athletics and administration with a proven track record of fostering excellence in rowing programs.” She have a great ability to develop talent and propel achievement. Katie provides the Badgers’ rowing program with a plethora of experience and a student-athlete first mentality.”
In the recent summer, Bruggeling, a licensed Rowing Canada Performance Coach, guided the Canadian women’s eight team to a bronze medal at the U23 World Championships in Bulgaria.
“I am thrilled and honoured to join the Badgers and continue the strong legacy of Brock rowing,” Bruggeling stated. “I’m thrilled to be joining Brock University and to be going back to St. Catharines and its rowing community. I am eager to start collaborating with the staff, coaches, and student-athletes.”
She worked as an assistant coach for the Sooners’ rowing program while earning her Master of Education in Athletics Administration from the University of Oklahoma.
As a student-athlete for Clemson University, Bruggeling earned a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology. She then joined the Tigers as an assistant coach. She coxed the team that won the 2011 Atlantic Coast Conference Crew-of-the-Year award, and she competed in two NCAA Championships as a coxswain in 2010 and 2011.
Bruggeling, a St. Francis High School alumna and former member of the St. Catharines Rowing Club, spent her childhood honing her skills on Martindale Pond, the Badgers’ home course near Port Dalhousie. Bruggeling won six gold medals at the Royal Canadian Henley Regatta between 2009 and 2012. At the 2023 Henley Regatta, she also coxed a boat that won the People of Port Dalhousie Trophy in the senior lightweight women’s eight.
Mary Rao, who was this past season’s acting head coach, will stay on staff as an associate coach.
Rao and Bruggeling became the first two female head coaches to win banners together in OUA rowing history. During the previous summer, they both coached for Rowing Canada in the Under-23 World Championships, where their respective boats won bronze.
“Our aim is to excel both in our endeavours on the water and in our personal growth, academics and athletic pursuits,” Bruggeling stated. “I’m eager to further enhance Brock’s achievements and propel us onward.”