Abby learned to row as an adult on Otsego Lake “because Faith told her to”. She sculls and serves in the all important bow seat for the OAR Women’s Masters Quad. When not on the water, Abby is the Director of Production for The Glimmerglass Festival. She is also an EMT and serves on the Springfield Town Planning Board and as the treasurer od the Springfield Fire Department. Abby relaxes by traveling the wilderness with her husband Joel and dog Blue looking for and taking photographs of wildlife.
Gib rowed sweep eights on the varsity for Andover, for the Harvard Lightweights, for the Cambridge University Blue Boat and the Magdalene College, Cambridge. He also trained and occasionally raced in pairs, fours and single sculls. He has been rowing a single scull on Otsego Lake since the early 1990s. Gib is a retired museum director.
Lang rowed at Kent School and took up sculling about 35 years ago on the Potomac River. He has competed in single, double and quadruple sculls at various rowing regattas occasionally taking home medals when the competition was feeling generous. He enjoys training for Head races and coaching others to become competent scullers. He retired in 2007 after 9 years in the Navy, 25 years as a Lawyer and 11 years as a VIrgina trial Judge.
Joe rowed for four years on his high school crew and one year in college. He returned to the water in single and double sculls – after his knees gave out following years of road running – and was certified as a Level 2 coach by USRowing in 2020. He coaches masters and youth rowers at his home club in San Francisco Bay and novice youth scullers on Lake Otsego with OAR. Joe has raced in Masters competitions since 2015, won a bronze medal in his age group at Masters Nationals in 2017 and has raced at the Head of the Charles five times.
Faith landed in Cooperstown a decade ago, looked out the window and realized there was a lake – and a big one at that! Suddenly she was overwhelmed with nostalgia for rowing sweeps in college, and pounced on the opportunity to use two oars instead of one. The rest is history and she has been working to get better and fitter each year – and enjoying racing in the OAR Women’s Masters quad.
In 2016, Laura became an “empty nester” and treated herself to rowing lessons with Andrea. She promptly bought a tippy boat and then a more stable boat and has spent the summers trying to improve her sculling in all kinds of conditions on Lake Otsego. She just loves being on the lake at sunrise when the water is calm. The sport’s workout can be leisurely or intense but there is alway room for improvement and a challenge. She has done a few races and enjoyed the challenge. Laura looks forward to sharing her love of the sport with people new to rowing
Alison rowed sweep in high school at Andover and learned to scull on Lake Otsego about 10 years ago. She enjoys working on sculling technique and has been thrilled to return to racing with the OAR Women’s Master quad. Alison spends as much time as she can in Cooperstown, especially during rowing season. Off the water, she works in HR at Google NYC.
Diana is a disabled rower who, after many years as an avid kayaker, began learning the sport of sculling about four years ago. She has been a board member of Otsego Area Rowing since 2020. When she is not on the water or playing with her fur babies, she has been an IT professional in the field of Instructional Technology for 25 years.
[Bio coming soon]
Ed rowed on the University of Pennsylvania Lightweight Crew for four years, and also while in Philadelphia rowed at Vesper Boat Club in a National Championship heavyweight, and after that at the Potomac Boat Club in Washington DC. When work and life dictated, he transitioned to sculling and has been at it for over 30 years both on the Potomac and his favorite lake, Lake Otsego. Ed was made an ’emeritus’ Board member in 2016, and treasures the time he can spend in Cooperstown. Off the water, Ed rides his bike a lot.
Andrea spearheaded the effort to establish OAR and has served as head coach since 2017. The sport of rowing has been a lifelong pursuit for Andrea, culminating with competition at the 1992 and 1996 Olympic Games. Andrea first learned to row at Cornell University. Following her Olympic career, Andrea taught freshman to row at Princeton and later attended Harvard Education School to become a mathematics teacher. Andrea is devoted to the sport of rowing and helping people of all ages discover their ability to move a shell through the water. Currently, Andrea is also serving as Assistant Coach for the PR3 Mixed High Performance Para Quad, preparing the team for the upcoming world Championships scheduled for September 2022.
