University of Wisconsin-Madison Women's Rowing

One of Wisconsin's most accomplished rowers, Middleton, Wisconsin, native Vicky Opitz took the helm of the storied Badger women's rowing program before the s...

Chad McGehee, M.A., M.Ed., became the first ever Director of Meditation Training in major college sports when he joined Wisconsin Athletics in March of 2020. In this role, he oversees all aspects of meditation training, collaborations and research. McGehee provides trainings for staff, coaches, teams and individuals. He works closely with coaches, leadership and Forward360 colleagues to integrate meditation into the overall training for the Badgers. Prior to joining Wisconsin Athletics, McGehee was based at the Center for Healthy Minds where he collaborated with world-leading scientists to understand the impacts of training the mind across a wide range of populations, K-12 educators, law enforcement officers and athletes. McGehee is currently an honorary affiliate of the Center. McGehee's philosophy is to bring together the insights from modern science and contemplative practice in order to train the mind for performance and well-being. McGehee lives in Madison with his partner and their son.

Wisconsin's already-strong rowing tradition was bolstered in 1996 with the hiring of Chris Clark as head coach of the men's rowing program. The 2002 Independent Rowing News College Coach of the Year, Clark quickly established himself as an architect of winning crews after taking over the reins from 28-year head coach Randy Jablonic. Clark brought the Wisconsin program to the peak of collegiate rowing during the 2008 season when the Wisconsin varsity eight took home the school's first national championship since 1990. The crew would later be named "Crew of the Year" by Row2k.com voters, as well as "Best of 2008" by Rowing News and the EARC Heavyweight Crew of the Year. Clark was also named EARC Heavyweight Coach of the Year that season. Wisconsin rowing, however, has been among the nation's elite during Clark's entire tenure. The coach led the Badgers to recapture the Intercollegiate Rowing Championship's Ten Eyck Trophy in 1997 after a nine-year absence. The trophy, which annually recognizes the school scoring the most total points in the IRA national competition, was retained by the Badgers in 1999, 2000, 2001 and 2002, indicating Wisconsin's dominance on the national scene. Over that stretch, four UW boats won national titles in 1999 and 2000, three boats won grand finals in 1998, two in 2001 and one in 2002. Two more boats won titles at the 2003 IRA. In addition to titles, Clark's crews have won numerous medals at the IRA during his coaching tenure, including a streak of 1

Chris Lalande , who had been a longtime volunteer coach with UW rowing, began her tenure as an assistant coach with the Wisconsin women's openweight program ...

Hadzo "Hodge" Habibovic enters his fifth season leading the Wisconsin women's lightweight rowing program in the 2025-26 season. In the 2024-25 season, Habibo...

Hired in the summer of 2024, Mary Anderson spent the prior two seasons as an assistant coach at Gonzaga, helping lead the Zags to a 17th-place finish at the 2024 NCAA Championships and a 19th-place result at the 2023 event. Gonzaga won 2023 and 2024 West Coast Conference championships both seasons. Prior to joining Gonzaga, Anderson spent time at Oklahoma City Boathouse Foundation, coaching with OKC Riversport in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, where she helped with the U-17s and junior women's novice programs among others. A standout rower and 2019 graduate of the University of Oklahoma, Anderson won three medals at the Big 12 rowing championships for the Sooners while also earning Academic All-Big 12 honors. Her rowing accolades include stroking the varsity eight to second place at the Big XII championships. She also owns a win at the San Diego Crew Classic. In addition to a bachelor's degree from OU in health and exercise science, Anderson is an ACE certified personal trainer and boasts experience as a fitness instructor at Orangetheory Fitness. She is currently working on a master's degree from Gonzaga in sport and athletic administration.

Women's RowingSkip AdSchumitsch, MaxAnderson, MaryClark, ChrisDenham, MerrittGibson, MegHabibovic, Hadzo "Hodge"Lalande, ChrisOpitz, VickyVitas, Sophia

Gibson arrived in Madison in 2023 after two seasons as head coach at Merrimack College, where she helped usher in the program's move to NCAA Division I rowing, running both the varsity and novice programs for the Warriors. Before taking over the program in November of 2021, Gibson served a short stint as assistant coach beginning that same June. Outside of rowing, Gibson served as chair of the Merrimack Athletic Department's Mental Health Committee before her departure. Prior to her foray into coaching, Gibson competed as a rower at Ohio State, helping the Buckeyes capture the 2018 Big Ten Rowing Championships. That included gold in the second novice eight that season. She also spent time as a student assistant coach during her undergraduate days in 2019, developing walk-on novice rowers by teaching rowing technique on ergs and training barges. That same 2019 summer, Gibson served as head coach of Greater Lawrence Rowing's Learn to Row Program in Lawrence, Massachusetts, introducing middle school athletes to the sport and maintaining rowing equipment. She also helped as an assistant coach with the club's under-19 competitive team. Gibson earned a degree in human development and family science from Ohio State and a master's degree in sports administration from Boston College.

Merritt Denham returned to Wisconsin in the summer of 2025 as the novice/first-year coach Denham rowed for the Badgers from 2012-16, helping various crews to top-three finishes at Big Ten championships, including rowing for the second-place novice eight in 2013, the third-place second varsity four in 2014 and the third-place third varsity four in 2016. In 2016, she was named the female recipient of Wisconsin Athletics' Unsung Hero Award before graduating in 2017. The Winnetka, Illinois, native returns to Wisconsin after most recently working with Syracuse University's women's rowing program as an assistant coach starting in December 2024. Before joining Syracuse, Denham was an assistant coach at Dartmouth for three seasons where she coached the Big Green's third and fourth varsity eight groups.

Vitas (pronounced VEE-tahs) joined the UW program in the summer of 2024 as a graduate coaching assistant. The Franklin, Wisconsin, native joins the Badgers after competing in the 2024 Paris Olympics, where finishing ninth in the double sculls. A Badger rower from 2013 through 2016 after transferring from UW-Milwaukee, she helped her second novice eight to a Big Ten title in 2014, while rowing for the varsity eight that placed 13th at the 2015 NCAA Championships and the second varsity eight that finished 10th at the 2016 NCAA Championships. Since her time at UW, the four-sport high school varsity letterwinner claimed fourth in the women's eight at the 2017 World Rowing Championships, seventh in the women's quadruple sculls at the 2019 World Rowing Championships, fifth in the double sculls at the 2022 World Rowing Championships and third in the double sculls at the 2023 World Rowing Championships. Most recently, Vitas won the double sculls at the 2024 World Rowing Cup II event. "Sophia was a walk-on rower here at Wisconsin who embodies the true determination and spirit of the program," Opitz explained. "We could not be more thrilled for her to bring her national team experience and Badger pride to our team. She is a role model for all Wisconsin athletes."