Daniel Garbutt has been instrumental in the early success of the Old Dominion women's rowing program not only having helped build the team from the ground up, but in the Lady Monarchs making headlines in the world of collegiate rowing in just three years as a varsity program.
Garbutt was elevated to head coach after serving as interim coach in the summer of 2011 by Old Dominion Athletic Director Wood Selig after a monumental season. Not only did the Lady 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.
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 Lady 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 as Garbutt continues to build the highly competitive Lady Monarch program .
Garbutt originally joined the Lady Monarch 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 University, Garbutt's collegiate career began in 1998 with him 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-American honors.
Garbutt's collegiate coaching career began as an intern and technical assistant at the University of Washington 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.