USRowing Announces the 2025 U19 Coaching Staff

USRowing is pleased to announce the 2025 Under 19 National Team coaching staff, which will lead the team that will represent the United States at the 2025 World Rowing Championships this August in Trakai, Lithuania.

Eric Gehrke returns as men's head coach for the under 19 program, while Caitlin McClain returns as the women's head coach. Supporting Gehrke on the men's side will be boat coaches Jamie Hamp and James Konopka, while Matt Grau and Sarah Gehrke will work with McClain as the women's boat coaches. Nick Haley will return to the U19 Team as the team manager for 2025 and will assist the head coaches with all areas of running camp and leading a successful campaign at the World Rowing Championships. 

"We are very excited for the U19 coaching staff and the consistency we are able to have with Eric Gehrke and Caitlin McClain at the helm," said Brett Gorman, Director of High Performance Pathways. "Our coaches have a strong understanding of the technique and the long term plan for our young athletes in the Pathways program."

Meet the Coaches

Eric Gehrke, Men's Head Coach

Eric Gehrke has been coaching in the USRowing system since 2009. Most recently, he has been the Head Coach of the Men's Under 19 National Team since 2021. During that time, he has coached the eight to three medals, gold in 2021, bronze in 2022, and silver in 2024. He is very excited about the connection between the senior national team and the U19 team through the USRowing Pathways system. 

Outside of USRowing, Gehrke serves as an assistant coach at the University of Oklahoma and leads the program's efforts in rigging and programming. He has always tried to challenge himself to create speed at the highest level he could – with coaching stops at Gonzaga College High School, Nashville Rowing, University of Southern California, Saratoga Rowing Association, and George Washington University. His boats have made Youth Nationals grand finals in six different boat classes across sweep and sculling, won Stotesbury and SRAA medals, won the B-final at the IRA National Championships, as well as qualifying for the NCAA Championships. 

Caitlin McClain, Women's Head Coach

Caitlin McClain has been coaching in the USRowing U19 system since 2014.  After five 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 in 2021, 2022, and 2023. In 2024, she took the helm of the U19 women's eight and won gold in St. Catherines. 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. 

Beyond USRowing, McClain is 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.

Sarah Gehrke, Women's Boat Coach

Sarah Gehrke returns to the U19 Women’s Coaching staff after coaching the 2024 U19 women’s four with coxswain to a silver medal at the World Rowing Championships in St. Catharines. She learned to row in high school at St. Louis Rowing Club before going on to compete for Indiana University as a recruited athlete for four years. Her coaching journey has brought her experience across many levels of rowing including youth, collegiate, international, and masters at a multitude of men's and women's teams throughout the country. In addition to her 2024 Worlds campaign, she intends to lean on her experiences as a 2019 Trials Junior Worlds Coach, HP (now Selection Development), and ODP (now Pathways Development Camp) Coach in order to make the USRowing Pathways system as successful as possible. Gehrke is currently the Juniors Program Director Coach at OKC Riversport.

Matt Grau, Women’s Boat Coach

Matt Grau is the Director of Rowing at Three Rivers Rowing Association in Pittsburgh, Pa., where he has worked since 2017. During that time, Three Rivers crews have earned five medals at Youth Nationals - including two first place finishes. In 2024, Matt coached the U19 men’s quadruple sculls to a 12th place finish. He started working with the U19 National Team in 2012, and has served in a variety of roles - including as a coach at the Development, ODP, U17 Racing, High Performance, Selection Development, and CanAmMex camps. He received his USRowing Level III coaching certification in 2020. Prior to Three Rivers, Matt was at Wilson High School (now Jackson-Reed) for four years, during which time he was named the Washington Post All-Met Coach of the Year.

Nick Haley, Team Manager

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. 

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. He was also the Mid-Atlantic coach for the Olympic Development Program (now Pathways Development Camp) in 2022. Now in his seventh year as the head coach at Mercer, his teams have won numerous medals at the Youth National Championships, including silver in 2019 (4+), bronze in 2021 (1V8+), and gold in 2023 (4-). 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 and brings past U23 international experience to his first year with the U19 staff. 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 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 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.

Ryan Brown, U19 Men's Team Intern 

Ryan Brown is currently a student at the University of Denver and coaching for Mile High Rowing Colorado. Ryan previously coached for Canisius High School Rowing and RowBuffalo. Last year, he was an intern with the USRowing Selection Development Camp, and in 2023 he coached the Men's pair at the U19 World Championships in Paris, France.