Bryan Volpenhein joined the OCU Athletics Staff as head men's and women's rowing coach in June 2024.
In his first season at OCU, the Stars finished with a men's doubles championship in the Dad Vail Regatta and placed sixth in OCU's Men's varsity Four final at the International Rowing Association National Championships.
Volpenhein came to OCU after serving as the head coach at the University of Pennsylvania for the men's rowing team from 2019-22. While leading the Quakers,  Volpenhein was the head coach for the San Diego Rowing Club men's varsity program, where he prepared high school athletes for regional and national championships.
Volpenhein also spent one year as the technical director for the men's rowing program at the University of San Diego. The Cincinnati, Ohio native has additional experience as head coach for the Oklahoma City National High-Performance Center from 2010-13 and head coach of the Pocock Rowing Center in Seattle from 2008-10.
A three-time Olympian who stroked the United States to a gold medal in 2004, Volpenhein arrived at Penn with high-level experience as the United States National Team Coach, where he selected and trained the men's four for the 2016 Rio Olympic Games and led three boats to gold medals during international competition.
The only two-time US Rowing Male Athlete of the Year, Volpenhein represented the United States in the 2000, 2004, and 2008 Olympic Games and was also a ten-time member of the United States National Team.
Volpenhein began his rowing career at Ohio State University where he graduated with a bachelor's degree in philosophy in 2002. Volpenhein went on to earn a Culinary Arts Degree from The Art Institute of Seattle.
