Coaching Staff

Brooke Downes, Women’s Varsity Coach bdownes@ucsb.edu

Brooke is from Boonton, New Jersey where she began rowing in high school for Row NJ (formally known as Mountain Lakes Rowing Club). She then went on to row all for years at USC and served as the captain of the team her senior year. She primarily sat in stroke seat of the 2V8, with a few races in the 1V8, and qualified twice for NCAAs.  After graduating in 2019, Brooke moved to Oklahoma to train at the Olympic Training Center with OKCHP team, primarily training in the women’s single and double skulls, and raced at the US Olympic trials event in 2021. She’s raced internationally in coastal rowing, and placed 9th at her first endurance World Rowing Coastal Championship in 2021, and earned 2 silver medals at the COPA America Cup in 2023. Brooke is still training for both flat water and coastal events, and is excited to take her experiences and help grow the UCSB program.