The University of Toledo officially announced women’s rowing as its 17th varsity sport in a news conference at the Glass City Pavilion on the riverfront in downtown Toledo on Wednesday. The Rockets will begin competition in the 2025-26 school year.
“Today is about showing an example of an athletic department that’s not afraid to be bold,” said Bryan B. Blair, vice president for intercollegiate athletics and director of athletics. “We want to be uniquely Toledo and take advantage of all this great community and University has to offer.
Participating in the official announcement to add women’s rowing as a varsity sport at The University of Toledo are (from left) Mike Dibling, chair of the Toledo Rowing Foundation; Dr. Jon Steinbrecher, Mid-American Conference commissioner; Dave Zenk, executive director of Metroparks Toledo; Matt Schroeder, University of Toledo interim president; and Bryan B. Blair, vice president and director of athletics.
“We are planting our flag literally and figuratively in downtown Toledo to showcase all the great things that are happening at our University. We are also happy to be a part of the over $200 million in investments that are happening in downtown Toledo. I think the best thing about this first step is that the best is yet to come with a University and community that’s on the rise.”
“Adding women’s rowing not only brings together community partnerships, it adds a sport that helps elevate both University of Toledo Athletics and the Mid-American Conference on a national stage,” said UToledo Interim President Matt Schroeder. “Equally, if not more importantly, it has a direct and transformational impact on enrollment and student success.”
Toledo women’s rowing will compete at the NCAA Division I level and in the Mid-American Conference, which is adding women’s rowing to its roster of sports in 2025-26. A head coach will be hired this fall, with a full year of acclimation leading into regular-season competition in the fall of 2025. The full squad will feature approximately 50-60 student-athletes on its roster.
“We are going to be adding high-achieving young ladies who will be adding so much to our campus and the vibrancy in our athletic department,” said Blair. “We have a culture of excellence that we want to extend to this new program, and we have a department that’s ready to embrace the addition of rowing. It gives us the opportunity to pursue a MAC Championship in another sport which we intend to do like we do in our other 16 sports.”
“I commend the leadership of this community and what they’re building and what it will do for improving the quality of life and bringing economic development to Toledo,” said MAC Commissioner Dr. Jon A. Steinbrecher. “I want to congratulate The University of Toledo on the addition of women rowing and continuing to grow opportunities for female scholar-athletes. I also commend the vision of director of athletics Bryan Blair and others, as well as the collaborative efforts to bring to life the vision of a NCAA Division I women’s rowing program.”
Toledo Women’s Rowing will practice and compete on the Maumee River and will utilize the Philip LeBoutillier Jr. Memorial Boathouse in International Park in downtown Toledo. The boathouse is owned by Metroparks Toledo and is operated by the Toledo Rowing Foundation.
The Philip LeBoutillier Jr. Memorial Boathouse in International Park is part of the transformational Glass City Metropark and Riverwalk project. The $200 million public-private initiative will build a landmark waterfront metropark and world-class riverfront destination. This initiative will create 300 acres of new and revitalized greenspace, and a five-mile, multipurpose trail that will connect six downtown and East Toledo neighborhoods, corporate campuses, small businesses, parks and cultural institutions.
“From the first time we started talking about this project, what we envisioned for Glass City Metropark and Glass City Riverwalk was a place where the community would be able to come together,” said Dave Zenk executive director of Metroparks Toledo. “We wanted many players, organizations, institutions and partners to be able to activate the core of our downtown in ways our community has never seen before. We wanted the Riverwalk to be a dynamic destination which fundamentally had the ability to reposition our region’s identity and help attract and retain talent in Northwest Ohio. This partnership checks every one of those boxes.”
The Toledo Rowing Foundation (TRF) was founded in 1984 with the goal of fostering, supporting and developing amateur athletes for competitive rowing. In February of 2021, TRF began management of the Philip LeBoutillier, Jr. Memorial Boathouse, and recently entered into a long-term partnership with Metroparks Toledo, enabling TRF to continue to support rowing on the Maumee River.
