- May 13, 2026
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Nestled between the Lafayette River and Elizabeth River is Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia.
Lakewood Ranch High rower Sophie Bell stepped onto its campus for an official visit from Sept. 15-17, 2023, and was impressed by the overwhelmingly positive environment.
She loved the rowing team. She loved the culture.
That day, it became the standard against which she would judge all other colleges.
“It started off as a baseline,” Bell said. “Every other school that I visited had to beat this one, and they didn't. I just always found myself thinking back to this visit.”
Old Dominion became her home away from home — a place where she could comfortably continue her athletic and educational endeavors.
Now, nearing the end of her sophomore season with the school’s NCAA Division I women’s rowing program, Bell is coming back home.
The former Lakewood Ranch resident will compete for the Monarchs from May 16-17 at the Big 12 Championship at Nathan Benderson Park. As an affiliate member of the conference, Old Dominion will battle Kansas, Kansas State, Tulsa, UCF and West Virginia.
Bell is all too familiar with this course. During her middle and high school days, she rowed for Sarasota Crew, testing her talents regularly at Nathan Benderson Park.
“I know the course like the back of my hand,” Bell said. “We practiced on it and raced on it thousands of times in high school. It’s nice to merge my two lives — high school versus college. It’s almost like it’s all coming together.”
The facility offers the only world-class course in the country, according to Old Dominion Women’s Rowing Coach Brian Conley. It carries a certain aura which Bell enjoys as well.
Conley, who has led the Monarchs since July 2022, pointed to the fairness of the racing lanes at Nathan Benderson Park as its distinguishing factor.
“That can be hard to find in the U.S., or even in the world, where all the lanes are fairly equal in terms of conditions from one day to the next,” Conley said. “You can rely on the times that come out of those races to be comparative from one race to another.”
Florida is the place Bell called home longer than any other, but it wasn’t her first home. She was born in England and moved to the U.S. at 4 years old.
It wasn’t her decision to pick up an oar or get in a boat. Her mother signed her up for a summer camp run by Sarasota Crew in 2017, as she prepared to begin sixth grade.
Growing up, Bell bounced around friend groups before joining the sport. Finding the people who she could best connect with wasn't all that easy.
After-school rowing practices became her refuge. They offered stability in her day-to-day life, regardless of whatever ups and downs she experienced elsewhere.
“Having a team that you can go to for pretty much anything is so, so beautiful,” Bell said. “I didn't have a set group of friends until rowing. It’s made my life better.”
Not to say it was all fun and games, that is. Coaches at Sarasota Crew run a rigorous program — often well-represented at the USRowing Youth National Championships.
Bell spent hundreds of hours on an ergometer to build her strength and endurance. She spent hundreds more on the water, learning how to work with others in a boat.
The club’s goal wasn’t to facilitate friendships for her. As one of the country’s premier youth rowing organizations, they're most invested in something else.
Sarasota Crew, when all is said and done, wants to turn youngsters into elite rowers.
“As much as being a Division I athlete is hard, I always feel like I've been one since my freshman year of high school,” Bell said. “It was hard work, and they never let you pretend that it wasn't. They held you to a high standard every single day, every single race.”
The transition to collegiate rowing wasn’t so rough because of her club background, but after rowing alongside many of the same people since seventh grade, she did have to find her role within an entirely new team.
That’s where the greatest challenge has been, Bell said. She’s had to learn how each of her teammates thinks and works — all over again.
She currently rows in the stroke seat of the team's second varsity eight boat, per Conley, and had a seat in the first varsity eight boat at times earlier this season.
“Sophie is actually one of our hardest workers. She's consistently been the person who is excited to be at practice, the person that's excited to work hard,” Conley said. “She's got a good feel for what happens in the boat, and is able to communicate that a lot.”
Ever since her official visit, Old Dominion has been her "baseline." She chose the Monarchs because no other college matched or surpassed what she felt there.
She used the same word to describe the significance rowing still carries for her. The sport — and the people in it — has been there for her, through thick and thin.
“It has always been such a baseline in my life for so long now,” Bell said. “I honestly just couldn't imagine not doing it.”
