GENERAL CAMP INFO
The Dolphin Masters Camp is designed for the adult sweep rower looking to significantly improve their technique and approach to successful rowing. Instruction and coaching will be geared to the experience level and talents of each master’s athlete. The camp includes two to three daily practices on the water and 1 active seminar centered on strength and mobility. Rowers and coxswains alike are video-taped, to review and evaluate their personal performance and technical execution after every rowing session.
We will utilize facilities on Jacksonville University’s campus. Notably the beautiful Negaard Rowing Center, and the Jacksonville University Strength & Conditioning Center. All sessions will be scaled accordingly for the beginner, intermediate, and advanced master’s athlete.
Keynote speakers will address the camp at lunch on Sunday and Monday. Potential topics could include be sports psychology for the adult athlete, nutrition for the adult athlete, and boat rigging. The staff will lead discussions on real time topics with their respective crews and during our camp Happy Hour at the end of each day.
Our athletes will have the option of staying in a camp sponsored hotel or make their own residential accommodations.
The directors of the camp have well over 40 years of combined coaching experience. Coach Mike Lane has coached all over the country from high school, to masters, to collegiate athletes. Currently Lane is the director of rowing and head women’s coach. His varsity women are the fastest team in JU history, most recently winning the MAAC Conference championship each year of his tenure as well competing at the NCAA Championships. He was also named MAAC Coach of the year in 2016, 2017, & 2018. Prior to JU Lane spent 12 years at the University of Pennsylvania where he led the women’s team to the best finish dating back to 1982. Lane has also coached at MIT, Everett Rowing Association (Everett, WA), & Lake Lanier Rowing Club (Gainesville, GA).
Director Paul Bugenhagen has been the Head Coach of Hobart College for 9 years. Under his leadership Hobart Rowing has enjoyed unprecedented success and become one of the Top 20 men’s programs in the country. Coach Bugenhagen’s crews have won 8 consecutive Liberty League Championships and 10 NIRC Championships. Bugenhagen has been named the Liberty League Coach of the Year five times and the NIRC Coach of the Year twice. He has mentored 3 USA National Team members during his time at Hobart.
Prior to leading the Hobart program he was the Head Coach of Bucknell University Men’s Crew. The 2009 ACRA Mid-Atlantic Coach of the Year oversaw the development of five ACRA All-Americans. Additionally, Bugenhagen spent three summers as the head coach of the pre-elite program at the Vesper Boat Club in Philadelphia. At Vesper, he coached 8 U.S. National Champions and 10 crews to gold medals at the Royal Canadian Henley Regatta. Bugenhagen also spent four summers as an assistant coach for the U.S. National Team.
Prior to Bucknell, Bugenhagen spent two seasons as an assistant coach at Princeton University. He also has served as the head coach of the Carnegie Lake Rowing Association in Princeton, N.J where he guided the master’s women to US Masters National Championships.
TESTIMONIALS
---> Eight workouts on the water with coaches and video feedback in January! What could be more fun? Seriously, your head will be so full of great metaphors and lessons to help you master the details of being a better rower that even erging will seem interesting. I signed up for the Winter session to help me stay motivated during the dark cold days of January. Definite win. Looking to come back next year with my whole boat.
---> The coach to rower ratio, the knowledgeable and charismatic coaches, rowing a pair in circles, and of course being coached by an Olympian with two gold medals! I learned something new from every single coach - they are all very talented teachers
---> It’s not everyday you get to train with an Olympian and a group of world class coaches. Dolphin Rowing Camp made me feel like a professional athlete for a weekend. From the high caliber coaching, to the guest speakers on sports psychology and nutrition, it was an amazing experience.
---> Amazing!! This camp was both informative and inspiring. The specific feed back and video review provided by highly qualified coaches helped me make positive changes in my rowing stroke in real time. We learned so much from the guest speakers and received great inspiration from our time with an Olympic Champion. After each full day of rowing and learning, we had so much fun bonding with fellow rowers at happy hour, dinner, and local excursions. I can't wait to come back next year!
---> Loved this experience! I am a different rower leaving camp than when I arrived. I could never have made that kind of progress in the rowing program I'm in at home. Thank you all so much!
---> I learned so much at this camp through many different methods, coaching from the boat, video and through conversations with the coaches. The coaches made themselves available to talk and seemed really invested in improving your skill as a rower, no matter your age or fitness level. I can't wait for next year!
---> Rowing is a sport you can practice for decades and never perfect. I can't believe how much I learned in such a short time at Dolphin Rowing Camp! I felt completely supported as an athlete and as a learner. The feedback from individual coaches was invaluable. I can't wait to come back next year and practice some more!
---> I truly believe that getting a variety of coaching is beneficial to everyone. Every coach is different and they have different input. I went back home super pumped up - started a work out journal and no matter what happens this season, I think about the camp experience and I am motivated to do my very best. Camp is like a 're-boot' and we all need that from time to time.
---> There are not enough great things I can say about the Dolphin Rowing Camp experience I had this year. Coaches were first class and the expertise they brought to the group, manner of motivation and great feedback left you with no other choice but to become a better rower by the end of it all. I can't wait to go back and see what else I can learn next year. Thank you for such a fantastic experience!