NORFOLK, Va. – Old Dominion rowing head coach Dan Garbutt announced today that he will be stepping down from his position and retire from collegiate coaching.
"I want to thank all of the alumni, Wood Selig, former President John R. Broderick and current President Brian O. Hemphill, Ph.D. for the opportunity to lead this program for 14 years. It has been the greatest honor and challenge of my life to serve the university and all of its amazing student athletes," Garbutt said.
"I am stepping down to have more time with my family as their needs and interests grow. I plan on staying in the area and look forward to cheering on many more ODU teams."
Director of Athletics Wood Selig praised Garbutt for his groundwork with the rowing program. "Dan Garbutt's name is synonymous with elite intercollegiate rowing performance," he said. "Dan will forever be known as the founding father of ODU rowing with his instrumental role in the design and construction of our world class rowing center on the Lafayette River, along with his decade plus investment in the launch and build of our start up intercollegiate crew program."
"While we will miss working with Dan as our head coach, he leaves the program in excellent shape for further growth and national prominence," Selig added.
Garbutt was instrumental in the early success of the ODU rowing program not only having helped build the team from the ground up, but in the Monarchs making headlines in the world of collegiate rowing in a short time span.
He was promoted to head coach after serving as interim coach in the summer of 2011. Not only did the Monarchs achieve a second place showing by the Varsity Eight and Varsity Four at the prestigious Dad Vail Regatta, ODU also had sweeps of Miami and Colgate, wins over six-time Patriot League Champion Bucknell, a third place finish at the Colonial Athletic Association Championships, and Grand Final appearances at the Knecht Cup.
Garbutt helped lead the program through several phases of conference action from the Colonial Athletic Association, to Conference USA, to the Big 12 and currently members of the American Athletic Conference. This year's team finished sixth in the American Athletic Conference meet on Sunday.
Along with the success on the water, Garbutt also helped open the $2.3 million ODU Rowing Center in the spring of 2011, representing a joint partnership project between the city of Norfolk and the University. A two-story, 13,000 square foot, boathouse facility that houses the Monarchs rowing program just minutes away from ODU on the Lafayette River, is a state-of-the art facility that provides first class accommodations for the program that provides training year-round for the program.
Garbutt originally joined the coaching staff in July of 2008 as the first assistant coach as the team geared up for its first season of varsity competition.
A 2001 graduate of Princeton, Garbutt's collegiate career began in 1998 winning the Freshman Award and being named a member of the United States National Team, while the Tigers captured the Intercollegiate Rowing Association (IRA) Championship. He went on to earn three varsity letters in men's heavyweight crew as Princeton won three Eastern Association of Rowing Colleges (EARC) Championships (1998, 1999, 2001). As a senior in 2001 he received All-Ivy League and All-America honors.
Garbutt's collegiate coaching career began as an intern and technical assistant in 2001. He then went on to spend two years as an assistant men's rowing coach at Northeastern from 2002 to 2004. Garbutt also spent time as a volunteer coach with several high school programs, as well as the Princeton's lightweight men's crew team, while working full-time as a senior specialist for the Centralized Business Review Unit of Merrill Lynch.
Dan Garbutt To Step Down As ODU Rowing Coach
