USRowing Announces Coaching Staffs for 2026 U23, U19, and World University Games

USRowing is pleased to announce the coaching staffs for the 2026 Under 23, Under 19, and World University Games selection camps. These programs will bring together the nation’s top junior and collegiate athletes to train and compete at the highest level as they prepare for the upcoming World Rowing Championships and World University Games later this summer. The selection camps play a critical role in the development pipeline, providing athletes with access to elite coaching, high-performance resources, and the opportunity to represent the United States on the international stage.

Leading the U23 program is Sergio Espinoza, who will serve as Head Coach of the entire U23 team. Espinoza, who was also named a USRowing Pathways Talent Coach in Fall 2025, brings extensive experience across both selection camp environments and international competition, and will oversee the overall direction of the program.

On the women’s side, Gia Doonan and Asiya Mahmud will work closely with Espinoza, each bringing proven success at the U23 level. Both have previously coached boats to medals at the U23 World Championships and will play integral roles in athlete development and crew formation. Doonan will focus on the women’s four, while Mahmud will lead the women’s eight, with both contributing collaboratively across the women’s group.

On the men’s side, Trevor Michelson and Andrew Hess round out a highly experienced coaching group. Michelson has coached multiple U23 medal-winning crews and most recently led the men’s quadruple sculls to a strong finish in 2025. Hess brings valuable international experience across both sculling and sweep, including coaching through the U23 Trials process.

The broader staff includes Lizzie Mitchell, who brings international experience, including coaching Trials-selected boats at the World Championships; Noah Axford, a multi-time U19 and U23 Selection Camp veteran who returns to the program; and Thomas Wenk, who will support both the men’s and women’s teams with a particular emphasis on performance data and analysis.

Collectively, the U23 staff brings a wealth of international coaching experience from Selection Camps, Trials, and World Championship racing, creating a collaborative, high-performance environment for athlete development.

Caitlin McClain returns for her fifth year as Head Coach of the U19 women’s team and was also named a USRowing Pathways Talent Coach in Fall 2025, reflecting her leadership within the national development system. McClain brings extensive experience across the U19 pathway and will continue to lead a highly competitive, development-focused program as the head coach of both the men's and women's teams.

She is supported by Nicki Haley, a long-standing member of the U19 national team staff, along with Jamie Hamp and James Konopka, both of whom have previously coached within the U19 system. Together, this experienced group provides continuity and a strong foundation for athlete development as the team prepares for international competition.

For the second consecutive year, USRowing will support a World University Team that will compete at the World University Championships in London, ON. The team will once again be led by Head Men’s Coach Gregg Hartsuff and Head Women’s Coach Kemp Savage. The 2025 World University Team achieved success across multiple boat classes, including a bronze medal in the women’s eight. Coaches Hartsuff and Savage aim to build on that success, placing greater emphasis on the small boats with the support of assistant coaches Abigail Ernst and Kevin Hinkle.

Meet the U23 Coaching Staff

Sergio Espinoza - U23 Head Coach 

Sergio Espinoza began coaching within the United States rowing system in the summer of 2016 as an intern coach for the U19 National Team. Since then, he has established himself as one of the leading development coaches in North America, earning four U23 World Championship medals across both the U.S. and Canada. His crews have captured gold in the U.S. men’s coxed four (2018), gold in the Canadian men’s straight four (2021), silver in the U.S. men’s eight (2024), and most recently, a historic first gold medal for the U.S. men’s straight four (2025).

Currently, Espinoza serves as the USRowing Pathways Talent Coach and Head U23 Coach for both the men’s and women’s programs. He is passionate about pushing the boundaries of rowing performance, focusing on developing team systems while integrating new approaches to technology, programming, and athlete development.

On the collegiate side, he currently serves as an assistant coach at Princeton University. Espinoza coached at the University of Washington from 2016 to 2024. He began as a volunteer coach and progressed to a full-time role by his third year. During his stint there, he helped lead the program to two IRA National Championships and five Ten Eyck Memorial Trophies. 

Espinoza earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Exercise Science from the University of Puget Sound, where he also met his fiancée, Carly, a former member of the women’s rowing team.

Noah Axford - Small Boat Coach

Noah Axford is the current assistant coach for lightweight rowing at Dartmouth College. Axford supports the head coach in all aspects of the program and leads the team's recruiting efforts. Previously, Axford served as an Assistant Coach and Boatwright at Columbia University from 2023-2025, supporting all three of the Columbia rowing programs. 

Axford has been involved with the USRowing Pathways system since 2021 in various roles, most recently as the 2025 U23 intern coach. In that role, Axford guided the U23 men’s lightweight single sculls to a silver medal and served as the sculling assistant coach. Axford previously contributed at the U19 level as the CanAmMex men’s assistant coach (2024) and as a U19 men’s intern coach (2021, 2022). 

Axford rowed all four years at George Washington University, graduating in May 2023 with a B.A. in political science. At GW, he raced in the third varsity eight at the 2021 IRA National Championship, placing ninth. He raced in the varsity eight in 2022 and 2023, winning the ACRA National Championship in 2022 and placing second in 2023. He began rowing at the San Diego Rowing Club in 2013.

Gia Doonan - Women's Boat Coach

Olympian Gia Doonan competed in the women’s eight at the 2020 Tokyo Games. She won a world championship in the women’s eight. She has competed and medaled in multiple international regattas in the eight, four, and pair.

As a U23 Athlete, Doonan competed at the 2016 World Championships, where she won gold in the eight and the four, and broke the world record in the four at the time. As a rower at the University of Texas, she was part of the rise of Texas Rowing. She played a big role in leading the team to a first-ever podium finish at the NCAA National Championships. 

As a coach, Doonan is in her fifth season coaching at the University of Texas. Under the lead of Dave O’Neill, she has coached two NCAA National Championship teams at Texas in 2022 and 2024. In 2025, the team finished third overall.  

In 2025, Doonan coached the U23 women’s eight that won a silver medal at the U23 World Championships. With many years of experience as a U.S. national team athlete, she is excited to contribute and be on the coaching side at this point in her career.

Andrew Hess - Men’s Boat Coach

Andrew Hess has been a member of the Columbia University coaching staff since 2016, where he coached both the heavyweight and lightweight programs. He spent six seasons as the Associate Head Coach of the lightweight team before transitioning to help lead the heavyweight program. During his time at Columbia, Hess helped guide crews to two IRA National Championships, an IRA team points trophy, and multiple Eastern Sprints titles.

Hess has been involved with the United States system since 2020. Over the past five years, he coached at six World Championships across the senior, U23, and U19 levels. At the U23 level, he coached the men’s pair twice, along with the men’s double sculls, men’s single sculls, lightweight men’s single sculls, and lightweight men’s double sculls, with all crews qualifying for and competing at the world championships. In 2025, he guided the men’s pair to a U.S. record-setting time and an A final performance. From 2021-2022, Hess was a two-time member of the U19 men’s team coaching staff, working with the men’s four with coxswain at the U19 Championships in Plovdiv and Varese.

Hess holds an MBA in Data Science as well as a master’s degree in Neuroscience and Motor Learning from Columbia University. 

Asiya Mahmud - Women's Boat Coach

Asiya Mahmud is in her third season as head coach of the University of Delaware women’s rowing program. She previously spent eight years at her alma mater, Drexel University, where she rose to head coach after serving as associate head coach. Mahmud began coaching within the USRowing system in 2021 and has since contributed to both the U19 and U23 national teams. She guided the U19 women's four with coxswain to a gold medal finish in 2021 and the U23 women’s four with coxswain to a bronze and silver medal finish in 2022 and 2024. Mahmud also served as lead coach for the CanAmMex team in 2023.

A Drexel University graduate, Mahmud holds a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice and a Master of Legal Studies with a concentration in NCAA compliance and sports law. She is also a USRowing Level III High-Performance-certified coach.

Mahmud says that coaching these talented athletes as they push their limits and compete on the international stage is incredibly inspiring. She is looking forward to building with both the athletes and coaches, making this a summer to remember.

Trevor Michelson- Men’s Boat Coach

Trevor Michelson has been the head coach of lightweight rowing at Dartmouth College since 2022. In 2025, Dartmouth finished second at the IRA National Championship, the program's best finish since 2012. During his tenure, seven of Michelson’s rowers have gone on to represent the United States at the Under 23 World Championships.

Michelson has spent the last 3 summers coaching the U23 Men’s selection camp. Last summer, his quadruple sculls finished 10th at the 2025 U23 World Championships in Poznan, and he helped guide the U23 lightweight men’s single to a silver. As coach of the men’s U23 four with coxswain, his crews placed third at the 2023 World Championships and won the gold in 2024. Prior to 2023, he coached the U23 lightweight men’s quadruple sculls to an A final appearance. 

Lizzie Mitchell - Small Boat Coach

Lizzie Mitchell started coaching in the U.S. system through the Craftsbury Green Racing Project in 2023. That year, she co-coached the USA U23 women’s double sculls and lightweight men’s pair, coaching the lightweight pair to a gold medal at the World Championships. In 2024, she co-coached the women’s single sculls and double sculls again at the world championships, both making the B finals. 

Mitchell is the Associate Head Coach with Boston University Women’s Rowing. She has helped the team win two consecutive Patriot League championships in her first two years at the program and is looking to make it three in a row this spring. 

Prior to Boston, Michell had a short stint out west; her coaching career really began in her home state of Maine with Bates College. While there, she helped both the men’s and women's teams win multiple NESCAC and D3 NCAA titles. 

Mitchell found rowing as a walk-on at the University of Vermont, where she majored in Recreation Management. She then went on to get her M.Ed in Intercollegiate Athletic Leadership from the University of Washington. 

Thomas Wenk - Small Boat Coach, Data Analyst- Men and Women

Thomas Wenk began his coaching career within the USRowing Pathways system in 2023, working with the U19 Selection Development Squad. In this role, he coached a targeted group of high-performance junior athletes preparing for national team selection, emphasizing technical efficiency, race execution, and the standards required for international competition.

Wenk currently serves as an Assistant Coach with Washington Men’s Rowing, returning to his alma mater for the 2025–26 season. Prior to Washington, he spent three years as an assistant coach with the Columbia University lightweight program, where he was involved in recruiting, athlete development, and daily training operations.

A native of Cincinnati, Ohio, Wenk began rowing with the Cincinnati Junior Rowing Club before competing at the University of Washington. As a coxswain, he helped lead the Huskies to multiple championships, including a Pac-12 title with the freshman eight (2019), an IRA National Championship with the third varsity eight, and both a Pac-12 and an IRA title in the varsity four (2021). He concluded his career with a silver medal in the varsity four at the 2022 IRA National Championships.

Wenk earned multiple academic honors during his time as a student-athlete, including Pac-12 Academic Honor Roll, IRA All-Academic Team, and IRCA Scholar-Athlete Team recognition. He graduated from Washington with a degree in biochemistry and a minor in chemistry.

Meet the U19 Coaching Staff

Caitlin McClain, Head Coach/Women’s Boat Coach

Caitlin McClain has been coaching in the USRowing U19 system since 2014.  After 5 years as an assistant working with both sweep and sculling boats, she coached the 2019 U19 women’s quadruple sculls in Tokyo.  In 2021, she became the women's head coach and led her crews to A-final finishes every year, and to gold medals in the U19 women’s eight and four in 2024 and 2025, respectively. She is excited to be coaching the women's four this year and working with an incredible staff of coaches toward a more unified and holistic national team system. 

McClain became the U19 Pathways Talent Coach in 2025. Her role is to design and implement scouting and development strategies to identify promising U19 athletes nationwide. She collaborates closely with youth programs to build relationships, observe athletes, and connect potential national team candidates to the High Performance system.

Before USRowing, McClain was the Head Coach at Seattle Pacific University, a Division II program that has competed at NCAAs three of her four years and won the Varsity four with coxswain in 2024.  Prior to SPU, Caitlin was at Holy Names Academy in Seattle, WA, for 15 years and built the program into a perennial powerhouse, most recently placing third at Youth Nationals in the youth eight in 2019.

Carol Dinion - Women’s Boat Coach

Carol is the head U19 and U23 coach at Potomac Boat Club in Washington DC. PBC’s goals are to develop athletes to compete at the highest level.  Carol’s athletes have won Youth Nationals, Canadian Henley, Summer Nationals, and the Head of the Charles, and many former PBC juniors and U23 athletes have raced and medaled at world championships and other international regattas. Most recently, in 2023, PBC junior and U23 scullers earned 10 medals at Summer Nationals.  In 2024, PBC’s men's junior sculling squad won the U19 single sculls, double sculls, and quadruple sculls and placed third in the U17 double sculls at Canadian Henely. In 2025, the women finished at Canadian Henley with second and third place finishes in the U17 quadruple sculls, U19 double sculls, and U19 quadruple sculls. 

Prior to and concurrently with her tenure at Potomac Boat Club, Carol was the women's head coach at McLean High School, where she coached several boats to state championships.  Before McLean, she was the women’s head coach at Yorktown High School, where Carol earned the 2010 Washington Post All-Met Coach of the Year. While coaching the novice/freshman team at Thomas Jefferson High School in 2007, Carol began working with USRowing, starting a Junior B sculling camp at Sandy Run, Virginia. 

Allison Foster - Women’s Boat Coach

Allison Foster has been coaching collegiately for 14 years and currently serves as the Associate Head Coach at the University of Southern California. Foster joins the U19 Selection team as a sweep coach in 2026 after working with the USRowing U19 Selection Development Camp in 2024 and 2025. She is excited about the opportunity to work with some of the best junior athletes in the country while encouraging their development as passionate, competitive, and skilled rowers. 

Foster first started rowing as a freshman walk-on at Oregon State University. After graduating from college, she stepped into coaching at the University of Puget Sound, where she worked with the men’s team for three years. Throughout her coaching career, she has served in many roles and worked with a handful of universities. A highlight of Foster’s career was returning to her alma mater and coaching Oregon State to a 14th-place team finish at the NCAA championship in 2022. 

A native of Bend, Oregon, she loves skiing, hiking, camping, and her dog Skye. 

Nick Haley, Men’s Boat Coach

Nick Haley took his first strokes in high school on the River Thames in London in 1984. He coxed at Georgetown University and began his coaching career in 1994. He has been coaching juniors in Portland, Oregon, for thirty years and is the founder and leader of the Rose City Rowing Club. Haley was named to the staff of the Junior National Team for the first time in 1999. Since then, he has served the team as a coach and team manager. This summer, Nick will assist with coaching the men’s crews.

Jamie Hamp, Men's Boat Coach

Jamie Hamp is the Director of Rowing and Varsity Boys Coach at Princeton National Rowing Association / Mercer. In 2024, he coached the U19 men’s four with coxswain to a silver medal at the World Rowing Championships in St. Catharines, Canada, and returned to coach the men’s eight last year. He was also the Mid-Atlantic coach for the Olympic Development Program (now Pathways Development Camp) in 2022. Now in his 8th year as the head coach at Mercer, his teams have won numerous medals at the Youth National Championships, including silver in 2019 (four with coxswain), bronze in 2021 (varsity eight), and gold in 2023 (four). In addition, he led the program to its first-ever medals at the Head of the Charles, including fifth in the youth eight in 2023, followed by fourth in the youth eight and third in the youth four with coxswain in 2024. 

Jamie grew up in Buffalo, NY, and rowed for Canisius High School before attending Princeton University, where he medaled at both Eastern Sprints and IRAs in the varsity eight and was a bronze and silver medallist at the U23 world championships.

James Konopka, Men’s Boat Coach 

James Konopka is the head coach at Malvern Prep, who finished 3rd in the youth quadruple sculls last year at Youth Nationals and brings past U23 international experience to his second year with the U19 staff. Last year, James coached the men’s U19 quadruple sculls. During the summers, James is also an assistant coach at Conshohocken Rowing Center. In 2024, he assisted with the U23 men’s quadruple sculls, which went on to set an American record and finished ninth at the World Rowing Championships in St. Catharines, Canada. Prior to that, he coached the U23 men’s lightweight quadruple sculls in 2022 and 2023, finishing fourth both years at the U23 World Championships. In addition, in 2023, he assisted with the Conshohocken U23 Program, which won 10 events at Summer Nationals, securing the Men’s Points trophy in the process. They would then go on to win six events at Canadian Henley.

James grew up in Philadelphia, PA, and rowed for Episcopal Academy under the guidance of his parents, Bruce and Molly Konopka. During his time there, he was a multiple-time Philadelphia City Champion, Stotesbury Cup medalist, and Scholastic National Champion. He went on to row lightweight at the University of Pennsylvania, where he was captain and competed at the IRAs all four years. In 2019, he won the Intermediate lightweight single sculls at Club Nationals.

Jamie Phelps - Small Boat Assistant Coach

Jamie is the Head Coach of the Vancouver Lake Rowing Club in Vancouver, WA. Since joining the club in fall 2023, Jamie has overseen steady program growth, more than doubling the team's size and promoting rowing through community engagement and outreach. Jamie has coached athletes to medal at Youth Nationals since joining Vancouver Lake, including 3rd place in the U17 women’s double sculls in 2024 and 2025.

In 2025, Jamie co-led a group of 10 NW athletes to success at the Canadian Henley, advancing to four Grand Finals and winning gold in the U17 men's and women's double sculls. Prior to Vancouver Lake, Jamie was the Head Coach of the South Eugene Rowing Club. At South Eugene, Jamie coached athletes to medal at various events, including third at 2021 Youth Nationals (U19 men’s double sculls), first at Summer Nationals 2022 (U19 men’s single sculls), second at Head of the Charles 2021 (U19 men’s double sculls), and first at Youth Nationals 2022 (U19 men’s double sculls). 

Meet the World University Games Coaching Staff

Gregg Hartsuff - WUC Men’s Head Coach

Gregg Hartsuff is in his 31st season with the University of Michigan Men’s Rowing Team and his 30th as head coach. Under his leadership, Michigan has become the most successful collegiate club rowing program since 1994, with consistent top finishes at the IRA and multiple appearances in the petite final. He is recognized as the all-time winningest club coach in U.S. college rowing history.

His crews have earned more than 140 medals at Dad Vail, ECAC, and ACRA competitions, including 60 gold medals. Hartsuff is one of only two coaches to win both the Dad Vail and ECAC Varsity 8 titles in the same year (2005), and he ranks among the all-time leaders in Dad Vail varsity eight titles. Michigan has also achieved notable success at national championships, winning dozens of medals and consistently securing the men’s team point trophy.

Hartsuff played a key role in founding the American Collegiate Rowing Association (ACRA) in 2007 and served as its first president, helping grow it into a major national organization. Internationally, he has coached Olympians and led U.S. teams at major events, including a gold-medal-winning men’s eight at the 2015 World University Games. A lifelong Michigan resident, he lives in Chelsea with his wife and three sons.

Kemp Savage - WUC Women’s Head Coach

Kemp Savage is a highly respected leader in American rowing, with extensive experience in international coaching, collegiate program development, and championship event management. In the summer of 2026, Savage will serve as the Women’s Head Coach of a World University Team for the fourth time, highlighting his continued leadership on the international stage. Under his direction, crews have earned two bronze medals and one gold in the women’s eight, while consistently developing collegiate athletes into elite international competitors. During his tenure, multiple athletes have progressed to the U23 level, with two advancing to the senior national team.

Savage has also played a significant role in shaping collegiate rowing in the United States. As President of the Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association and a former member of the NCAA Championship Committee, he has contributed to the organization and administration of major regattas and national championships. He was instrumental in the development of the international-standard, eight-lane rowing course at Ford Lake in Ypsilanti and served in a leadership role for event logistics at RowFest 2025. In recognition of his contributions to the sport, Savage was named Man of the Year by USRowing in 2025.

Now in his 12th season as head coach at Eastern Michigan University, following six years as an assistant, Savage has guided the program to sustained competitive success. Under his leadership, the Eagles have recorded three third-place and three fourth-place finishes at the Colonial Athletic Association Championships, including third-place finishes in 2016, 2018, and 2022—among the best results in program history.

The 2021–22 season marked a high point for the program, as EMU placed third overall at the CAA Championships and set a program record with 26 team points. The team captured seven race victories during the season, including multiple First Varsity Eight wins, and saw two athletes earn All-CAA honors. Additionally, 40 student-athletes were named to the CAA Commissioner’s Honor Roll, reflecting Savage’s emphasis on academic and athletic excellence.

Savage has overseen consistent academic success in the program, with Eastern Michigan producing three or more CRCA National Scholar-Athletes in every eligible season. In total, he has coached 61 National Scholar Athletes, as well as multiple All-Region and All-Conference honorees.

Before joining EMU, Savage served as head coach at Old Dominion University, where he led the men’s novice team to a national title and the women’s varsity team to a third-place finish at the American Collegiate Rowing Association National Championships. A Level III certified coach through USRowing, Savage was also a four-year letterwinner and team captain at the University of Mary Washington, competing at the Dad Vail and ECAC regattas.

Savage holds a bachelor’s degree in biology from Mary Washington and a master’s degree in exercise physiology from Eastern Michigan. He resides in Michigan with his wife, Kellie, and their son.

Abigail Ernst - WUC Assistant Coach

Abigail Ernst began her involvement with USRowing in 2018 as a resident advisor and assistant coach with the U18 High Performance Team. She returned in 2019 as the first assistant coach at the U23 Development Camp and later volunteered with the U23 National Team in 2021. In 2025, she expanded her career within the USRowing High Performance Pathway as a sculling coach for Team USA at the World University Games.

Ernst joined the Oregon State University women’s rowing staff in fall 2022. In 2025, she helped lead the Beavers to a sweep of the West Coast Conference Championships and the first-ever conference title, followed by a team appearance at the NCAA Championships. She is currently in her fourth season with the program.

As a student-athlete, Ernst began her collegiate career at the University of Washington, where she stroked boats during two undefeated regular seasons in 2014 and 2015, highlighted by a bronze-medal finish in the second varsity eight at the 2015 NCAA Championships. She later transferred to The Ohio State University, where she won a bronze medal in the four at the 2017 NCAA Championships.

Ernst earned a bachelor's degree in the History of Art from The Ohio State University and a master’s degree in Educational Leadership and Policy Analysis, with a focus in Athletic Administration from the University of Wisconsin–Madison, where she also served as a graduate assistant coach. She began her full-time coaching career at the University of Iowa before returning to The Ohio State as a boatwright and volunteer coach.

Kevin Hinkle - WUC Assistant Coach

Kevin Hinkle has been an assistant coach for the Syracuse men’s rowing team since the fall of 2024. In his first season with the program, he helped lead the 3rd Varsity 8+ and Varsity 4+ to grand final appearances at the IRA championships. Prior to Syracuse, he served as an assistant coach at the University of San Diego for two years. Hinkle got his start in coaching at Skyline High School in Ann Arbor, Michigan, before spending a year coaching and training at the ARION program in Saratoga Springs, NY. 

As a student athlete, Hinkle won three ACRA National Championships at the University of Michigan and received two ACRA First Team All-American honors. Hinkle was the stroke seat for the USA in the Men’s 8+ at the 2018 World University Rowing Championships in Shanghai, China. He earned his bachelor’s degree in cellular and molecular biology from Michigan in 2019. After Michigan, Hinkle attended Newcastle University in Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom, where he was a member of the men’s rowing team as a vice captain. He earned his master's in science with distinction in synthetic biology in 2022.