Staff Directory
- Title:
- Head Coach
- Email:
- Phone:
- 852-3325
Following two seasons as an assistant coach with the Cardinals, Derek Copeland was promoted to head coach of the University of Louisville rowing program on June 18, 2012. The promotion has been very beneficial for the Cardinals after the program reached new heights in 2014 before transitioning into the ACC in 2015.
Most recently, Louisville posted a 10th place finish in the 2025 Atlantic Coast Conference Championship, amassing 39 points over the two-day event. The highly-competitive ACC field featured eventual national champion Stanford along with Cal, Virginia and Syracuse who finished the season ninth, 10th and 12th respectively at the NCAA Championships. Senior Kaylie Leonard earned All-ACC third team honors. Two weeks prior, while competing at the 2025 Southern Intercollegiate Rowing Association Championship Regatta, the Cardinals' Varsity 8, Second Varsity 8 and Novice 4 boats collected gold medals with the Varsity 4A earning the silver in the 'A' final.Â
The 2024 campaign culminated with an eighth-place finish in the ACC championship with Claire Carver-Ritter garnering All-ACC third team recognition.
In 2022-23, Copeland led Louisville to a  seventh place finish after two days of racing at the ACC Championships on Lake Wheeler in Raleigh, N.C. The Third Varsity Eight boat made the Grand Final at the ACC Championships where the Cardinals finished sixth with a time of 7:25.658. In the Petite Finals at ACCS, the Varsity Eight boat turned in the time 6:43.228 for the victory. The Second Varsity Eight boat that clocked in at 6:59.878, almost six seconds ahead of second place Boston College, in a decisive victory in the petite final at ACCs. Louisville's Caitlin Bentley earned Second Team All-ACC honors. Copeland hosted its 11th Annual Oak Ridge Cardinal Invitational with a field of 10 teams at the Melton Lake Rowing Venue in Oak Ridge, Tenn. The V8 finished third, just five seconds out of the runner-up position and the 2V8 boat finished fourth, just two seconds out of third. Both the V4 and 2V4 boat finished third in their races.
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Under Copeland’s guidance, the Cardinals continue to excel in the classroom, most recently landing eight on the 2025 CRCA Scholar Athlete List. In 2023, Madison Cicha, was named a Fulbright Scholar, using the grant to go to the Netherlands to pursue a master’s degree in conservation and restoration ecology at Radboud University/Nijmegen.Â
During Copeland's time as head coach, the Louisville rowing program earned its first NCAA Championship berth and won its first conference championship in 2014 while also producing a trio of All-Americans (Sophie Schulz, Second Team, 2017-18; Kirsti Harrison, Second Team, 2016-17; Morgan Dunham, Second Team, 2013-14). The Cardinals have also registered 11 CRCAÂ All-Conference and All-Region, 65Â CRCA Scholar-Athletes and 19 All-Conference selections during that five-year span.
Over the course of the program's time in the prestigious ACC, Louisville has finished sixth or better in each of the ACC Championship regattas. The Cardinals have produced multiple All-ACC performers. In 2018, Louisville added its first individual ACC honor as Violette Legrand was named as the league's Freshman of the Year.
In his second season guiding Louisville in 2014, Copeland led the program to its first NCAA Championship appearance finishing 17th overall in the three-day event in Indianapolis. The Cardinals earned their first NCAA berth by sweeping all six grand finals and winning the inaugural American Athletic Conference Championship, the program's first conference team title. Louisville's second varsity eight boat was chosen as the American Boat of the Year and senior Morgan Dunham was named to the 2014 Pocock All-America Second Team by the Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association becoming the fifth rower in school history to earn the honor.
In his first season as head coach, the Louisville rowing team earned a second-place finish at the BIG EAST Championship, including an event title in the second varsity four. Individually, four Cardinals - Darya Marchanka, Morgan Dunham, Erin Bennett and Kara Savegnago -- earned All-BIG EAST honors. The Cardinals' best performance of 2013 came at the Clemson Invitational where they knocked off the 14th-ranked and host Tigers while also earning wins over No. 19 Cornell and No. 20 Duke. Individually, Bennett and Marchanka earned First Team All-South Region honors from the CRCA, while Ellen Fawcett, Dunham and Hannah Ritter were Second Team All-South Region accolades. Dunham and Ritter were joined by Katya Monchenko, Marissa Thalen, Amy Van Syoc and Andrea Zorn as CRCA Scholar Athletes for their work in the classroom.
During Copeland's two seasons as an assistant at UofL from 2010-12, the Cardinals produced their fourth All-American selection (Erin Bennett, 2012) in program history and won a BIG EAST Conference varsity eight championship (2011). They have also earned seven All-BIG EAST selections and had 12 CRCA Scholar-Athlete honorees during the last two years.
The fourth head coach in the history of the Louisville rowing program, Copeland takes over leadership of the Cardinals from Laura Aubrey, who stepped down after five seasons as head coach in order to spend more time with her family.
Copeland joined the Cardinals in the fall of 2010 after three seasons as head rowing coach at the University of Dayton. While in Dayton, he led the Flyers to fourth-place finishes at the 2008 and 2009 Atlantic 10 Championships and had eight Flyer rowers earn All-Atlantic 10 honors during his three-year tenure.
Prior to being named the Flyers' head coach, Copeland served from 2000-06 as head coach of UD's men's club team. A 2000 graduate of Dayton with a degree in business management, Copeland rowed from 1996-2000 for the Flyers' club team, which earned Top 15 national rankings in the US Rowing Coaches' Poll during his final two seasons.
Copeland and his wife Debra have three sons.
