LaRocque named Wisconsin women’s rowing associate head coach
September 01, 2016 | Women's Rowing
Women’s assistant coach promoted to associate head coach
MADISON, Wis. – Women's rowing head coach Bebe Bryans has announced that openweight assistant coach, Nancy LaRocque, will be promoted to associate head coach for the upcoming season.
"Nancy is able to bring a lot of competitive knowledge and technical experience to any conversation or issue, as many coaches can," Bryans said. "What makes her so valuable to me and the Badger program is her ability to see around corners and use her experience to fill gaps that aren't even there yet."
In her first year at UW in 2013-14, LaRocque continued the UW's great novice rowing tradition by directing the program's second novice eight to a Big Ten title and the novice eight to a third-place finish. The novice eight climbed one spot in 2015, grabbing the runner-up spot at Big Tens.
Last season, LaRocque's duties shifted to the varsity program, helping the varsity eight match the program's top NCAA finish and the team produce its first top-10 result since 2011.
LaRocque owns a wealth of coaching experience, having served eight seasons as a coach at the NCAA Division I level prior to her arrival in Madison. Most recently, that came as an assistant during the 2009-10 season at Tennessee. Prior to that, she was the head coach at West Virginia from 2000-07, where she helped direct the Mountaineers move from a club program to the NCAA Division I level and then brought it to nationally-ranked status in just three years.
Before joining West Virginia, LaRocque was an assistant for two seasons at Division III Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, N.Y.
The Dover, N.H., native rowed collegiately at the University of Massachusetts, where she won three consecutive Atlantic 10 championships and gold medals at the San Diego Crew Classic, New England Championships and the Champion International Collegiate Regatta. She was also a member of the Minutewomen varsity eight that placed second at the 1997 NCAA Championships and was a two-year captain for the squad.
LaRocque also has national-level rowing experience. From the summers of 1993-98 she was selected to participate in the U.S. Rowing Association's elite development programs, which identify and develop athletes for the national team. In 1995, she finished second in the quad at the trials for World Championships.
Outside of rowing, LaRocque spent more than five years with Specialized Bicycle Components in human resources, as a recruiter and as an executive assistant to the founder immediately before arriving in 2013 in Madison.
"Her organizational skills are off the chart and her passion for the success of our program – athletes and staff – make her an invaluable asset. She's not afraid to tell me what I need to hear, and usually has a few options in mind for ways to make things better. That's a gift more than a skill, and I have come to really appreciate that," Bryans said.
"Nancy is able to bring a lot of competitive knowledge and technical experience to any conversation or issue, as many coaches can," Bryans said. "What makes her so valuable to me and the Badger program is her ability to see around corners and use her experience to fill gaps that aren't even there yet."
In her first year at UW in 2013-14, LaRocque continued the UW's great novice rowing tradition by directing the program's second novice eight to a Big Ten title and the novice eight to a third-place finish. The novice eight climbed one spot in 2015, grabbing the runner-up spot at Big Tens.
Last season, LaRocque's duties shifted to the varsity program, helping the varsity eight match the program's top NCAA finish and the team produce its first top-10 result since 2011.
LaRocque owns a wealth of coaching experience, having served eight seasons as a coach at the NCAA Division I level prior to her arrival in Madison. Most recently, that came as an assistant during the 2009-10 season at Tennessee. Prior to that, she was the head coach at West Virginia from 2000-07, where she helped direct the Mountaineers move from a club program to the NCAA Division I level and then brought it to nationally-ranked status in just three years.
Before joining West Virginia, LaRocque was an assistant for two seasons at Division III Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, N.Y.
The Dover, N.H., native rowed collegiately at the University of Massachusetts, where she won three consecutive Atlantic 10 championships and gold medals at the San Diego Crew Classic, New England Championships and the Champion International Collegiate Regatta. She was also a member of the Minutewomen varsity eight that placed second at the 1997 NCAA Championships and was a two-year captain for the squad.
LaRocque also has national-level rowing experience. From the summers of 1993-98 she was selected to participate in the U.S. Rowing Association's elite development programs, which identify and develop athletes for the national team. In 1995, she finished second in the quad at the trials for World Championships.
Outside of rowing, LaRocque spent more than five years with Specialized Bicycle Components in human resources, as a recruiter and as an executive assistant to the founder immediately before arriving in 2013 in Madison.
"Her organizational skills are off the chart and her passion for the success of our program – athletes and staff – make her an invaluable asset. She's not afraid to tell me what I need to hear, and usually has a few options in mind for ways to make things better. That's a gift more than a skill, and I have come to really appreciate that," Bryans said.
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