Today we’d like to introduce you to Trish Brubaker.
Trish, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
Started rowing at the Lincoln Park Boat Club more than 20 years ago. Pursued elite level rowing, which took me out of Chicago to train in National Team training camps. Began coaching in Pennsylvania after my competitive rowing career ended. I missed Chicago a lot – it’s home – and so made the move back in 2012. I could see what LPBC needed both in terms of competitive training but also in terms of simply building community, within all of the disciplines the club offers. I set about building that community with like-minded club members.
Has it been a smooth road?
It’s still not a smooth road! Each step of the way you have to bring everyone around to what you’re doing and why. LPBC offers so many different forms of boating; it’s important to make sure people know that you’re considering their needs and interests. It’s easy for people to feel overlooked at times. Finding ways to include everyone, while staying true to your goals and the competitive interests of the club, is a daily challenge.
We’d love to hear more about your business.
We are known mostly as a rowing club and we have a large national presence. Club rowers compete internationally and at most of the top regattas in the country. We’ve brought home medals from USRowing’s Club National Championships three years in a row now. We’re consistently one of the most competitive and successful teams at USRowing’s Masters Nationals Championships, and we are also consistent top finishers at the Head of the Charles, one of the largest rowing regattas in the world, held in Boston every year.
On the paddling side, we’re building a competitive paddling community and a club culture that is designed to attract more committed paddlers – people who are looking to get on the water on a weekly, if not daily basis. We have great leadership now on the paddling side and I think that part of our club is going to gain parity with the rowing side in the next couple of years.
Has luck (good or bad) played a role in your journey?
I don’t think much about luck, but I guess I could say that genetics are a bit of luck and I didn’t exactly have the genetic make up for rowing – I could have been taller, for instance. Or, it is perhaps a bit unlucky to be a 5’5″ woman in a profession that is dominated by 6′ tall men. I’ve been at regattas and had my assistant coach addressed as the head coach. Perhaps that is unlucky, but that is also just the way of it and I don’t spend a lot of time thinking about it.
Is our city a good place to do what you do?
Yes! The city features 4 boathouses dedicated to rowing and two additional boathouses for paddling and there is a lot of focus on increasing access to the river and lake. Aside from civic investment in these kind of recreational outlets, there are also countless community groups willing to help further rowing and paddling in the city, from Park Advisory Councils to Friends of the Chicago River. In addition, the Coast Guard Auxiliary is very generous with its time in helping to ensure rowers and paddlers operate safely. Chicago is a great place for both experienced and beginning rowers – it’s a great place to meet other people who have rowed in high school or college and it is a safe place to learn the sport from experienced coaches.
Contact Info:
- Website: lpboatclub.org
- Email: coaches@lpboatclub.org
Image Credit:
Dan Hogan
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