Central Ohio Rowing, the first high school crew team in Central Ohio, was founded in the late summer of 1991 by Joanne Cooper-Novak as Dublin Crew.  After visiting with members of the Greater Columbus Rowing Association (GCRA), Joanne was able to recruit Robin Kingma and Kelly Mackey, to volunteer their services for 2 1/2 years to get the program started.

 

Robin Kingma began her career as a three-year varsity rower at Marietta Senior High School.  At Duke University, Robin was a four-year varsity rower.  After graduation from Duke, Robin coached Dublin Crew for four years. Robin was a four-year Masters rower with GCRA and served as president of this organization for two years. Her full-time job was with Nationwide Life Insurance Company as a Pension Services Manager.  Kelly Mackey rowed for the Ohio State University Varsity Women’s team for three years.  After graduation from OSU, Kelly moved to California and rowed for the Mission Bay and Long Beach Rowing Clubs. In 1990, Kelly returned to Ohio and coached at OSU for a year before joining the Dublin Crew coaching staff.

 

During the summer of 1991, the first season of Dublin crew, six young innocents were not-so-gently persuaded to become the original members of Dublin High School Team. The rowers were Sarah Cooper­ Novak, Leah Glowacki, Jacque Newton, Laura Seamans, and Wendy Swart, and Lisa Leppert was the coxswain. After only five weeks of practice, these ladies entered their first race, the Speakmon Regatta. At this race, all of Dublin’s competitors were college teams. Despite the booing and harassing of their competition, this upstart young high school team captured a highly respectable second place.

 

Sarah Cooper­ Novak, Leah Glowacki, Jacque Newton, Wendy Swart, and Lisa Leppert became the “Founding Five.” These five determined young ladies set an outstanding example for the future members of the Dublin Crew. They worked together for six seasons before graduating in 1994. They rowed their last race for Dublin High School at the Toledo International Regatta. At Toledo, they won the prestigious Ladies Cup for Dublin.  All five of these women rowed for college teams: Sarah Cooper-Novak, Ohio State University; Jacque Newton, Purdue University; Leah Glowacki, University of Dayton; and Wendy Swart and Lisa Leppert, Miami University.

 

After one year, Dublin Crew grew from the “Founding Five” to the fabulous number of 50.  With the increase in crew members, the coaching staff also grew. In addition to the varsity coaches, Robin Kingma and Kelly Mackey, the team had two novice coaches, Laura Beck and Paul Moore, and two assistant coaches, Tim Freund and Toby Thogmartin.   The Dublin business community has contributed generously through their donations and participation as sponsors of Central Ohio Rowing. As a result of this support, during the second season, the team purchased two used four-man boats, one used eight-man boat, 24 oars, and the crown jewel of the fleet:  their first unsullied, shining shell, the “J.R. Mason.” In addition to the boats and oars, the fantastic Dublin trailer was lovingly constructed by J.R. (Jim) Mason, John Leppert, Steve Kuhnash and David Novak.

 

As to the name Dublin Crew, it is the original name that focused on the suburban area.  It has never been associated with the Dublin City Schools.  In fact, from day one, Dublin Crew attracted rowers from many cities including Columbus, Grove City, Hilliard, Marysville, Plain City, Powell, Westerville, and Worthington. In 2019 the Board voted to change the name to Central Ohio Rowing to reflect the community the organization serves.