About Us
COaches
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Program Manager
Contact LauraLaura’s rowing journey began at Pacific Rowing Club in 2004 while attending Leadership High School. As a junior lightweight, she captured the 2007 C.R.A.S.H.-B. World Indoor Rowing Championship title and earned an invitation to the USRowing National Team Selection Camp. She went on to compete for Saint Mary’s College of California, racing in the varsity boat throughout her four years and earning a B.A. in Kinesiology (’11). She later completed an M.A. in Kinesiology (’18), with a focus on coaching through psychology, sociology, and philosophy.
Laura’s coaching career is equally wide-ranging. She began with PRC’s Learn to Row summer camps and continued at Saint Mary’s as a Volunteer Assistant Coach. In 2013, she worked with the University of Virginia women’s team—then ranked No. 5 nationally—supporting walk-on athletes and winter training. The following year, she became Head Women’s Coach for UC Berkeley’s Club Lightweight Crew, growing the program from four to 17 athletes and leading boats to gold and silver medals at the WIRA Championships. Most recently, she coached master’s women at Marin Rowing Association while also serving as Operations Manager. In addition, Laura is a Certified Personal Trainer with a specialty in women’s weightlifting.
A true homecoming, Laura returns to PRC to lead the Girls’ team and coordinate boathouse operations and programs. She lives in San Francisco with her dog, Chewbacca.
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Assistant Youth Girls Coach
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Head Boys Coach
Will started rowing his sophomore year of high school after an unremarkable football career. He went on to row for three years at Leon High School in Tallahassee, FL, and in his senior year, helped form what is now known as Capital City Rowing. After rowing in high school, he continued rowing at Emory University in Atlanta, where he rowed for four years, holding the position of team captain for his final two years on the team. At Emory, he participated in the Head of The Charles Regatta, Dad Vails, USRowing Sculling Development Camp, and ACRAs. Throughout his rowing career, Will was consistently the rower that fell just short of making the top boat in high school and college. He takes this perspective of what it feels like to fall just short of a goal and the importance of the team making top boats fast with him as a coach.
Since transitioning to the coaching side of the sport, Will has coached across many different levels, from Masters to middle school. He has recently coached at Emory University as the Novice women's coach and at Los Gatos Rowing Club as a masters and middle school coach. He is passionate about diversifying the sport and improving pathways for a boathouse to become a true community boathouse.
Outside of rowing, Will previously worked in education as both a classroom teacher and a program manager at City Year. He currently works as a project manager at Silicon Valley Community Foundation, supporting capacity and leadership development for local nonprofits. He holds a Masters of Education from Harvard University's Graduate School of Education. He looks forward to calling Pacific Rowing Club his rowing home and developing young athletes' love for the sport as the Novice men/U16 coach.
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Assistant Coach
Contact Hayze
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Assistant Coach
Conall Keane is a recent graduate of PRC. He is a graduate of Pacific and Wallenberg High School. Now he is an economics major at San Francisco State University. He is also an assistant coach for the novice men. Conall is ready to develop our novice athletes into a great future for Pacific.
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Masters Coach
An alumna of Pacific Rowing Club herself, Isa started her rowing career in 2013. The team helped her discover that hard work not only pays off but can be a fun process in and of itself. Through her high school career, she raced in nearly every boat class, including 8+s, 4s, and 2+s. As a junior, she was named the most improved athlete of the season. She continued to row at the University of Washington, where she became captain of the club rowing team (Union Bay Rowing Club), learning not only to scull more but to coach. Her physical and pedagogical rowing expertise helped her club medal at the Otter Island 15K regatta and the Frostbite 1K regatta.
Following the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, Isa returned to the PRC as a coach. She has led both the novice women's and masters teams during her tenure, helping them secure bids to national championships and return bids to the Head of the Charles, respectively. Her coaching philosophy focuses on building fitness from the bottom up: taking care of one’s body, understanding both the “whats” and “whys” of practice, and learning to enjoy hard work.
Isa holds an MS in Physics from San Francisco State University and is actively working on her USRowing Level 3 coaching certification. She is passionate about teaching students of all ages and watching them develop their abilities and confidence. Outside of work, she can usually be found running in Golden Gate Park or baking for friends.
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Posting Coming Soon, email info@pacificrowingclub.org for more info.
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Posting Coming Soon, email info@pacificrowingclub.org for more info.
2025
Board Members
Chairman
Mason Kirby
Director
Juliette Hackett | Beth Lapachet | Robbie Ostrow | Eric Weir | Hyde Patterson | Mike Knapp | Lesley Lambert
Director Emeritus
Beth Lapachet | Andrew Helmlinger | Tedi Vriheas
Director Emeritus - Founder and Treasurer
Joe Mees
FAQs
Rowing Terminology
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The number of rowers in a boat is either 1, 2, 4, or 8.
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In a sweep boat, each rower has one oar, held with both hands.
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In a scull boat, each rower has two oars (sculls), one in each hand.
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A coxed boat is identified with the + symbol, and an unboxed boat is noted with the - symbol. The sweep boats, in which the crew hold one oar each, are called Pairs (2-), Fours (4+) and Eights (8+). The scull boats, in which the crew hold two oars each, are not coxed and are called Singles (1X), Doubles (2X) and Quads (4X).
For coxswain participating in their first year of rowing. For a more detailed definition please see the most current Rules of the Southwest Junior Rowing Championship Regatta.
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The cox, or coxswain (pronounced "cox-in") is always seated in the direction of travel and is responsible for steering the shell, executing race strategy, providing motivation, coordinating the power and rhythm of the crew, and ensuring the overall safety of the boat.
The coxswain is traditionally thrown into the water after a regatta win.
REGATTA LOGISTICS
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Rowers are not permitted to drive themselves or their teammates to any away regatta. We encourage carpools with other parents, arranged in advance or "organically" at pre-regatta meeting point.
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All rowers assemble before away regattas at a meeting point. Any rower who does not have a ride to a destination can notify his/her coach, teammates or announce he/she needs a ride. There will almost always be a car going to the regatta venue with an empty space in their car.
It is advised that you wait at the meeting point to confirm that your rower has a ride to the regatta before leaving.
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When PRC participates in regattas that are out-of-state or in Southern California, transportation is provided by PRC for all rowers.
PRC also provides transportation to the Southwest Regionals (or CJ's).
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Regattas last all day--sometimes a whole weekend--and have multiple events. Your rower may row in just one event or may row in 2 or 3. If your rower is racing in multiple events, it is likely that their races will be spread throughout the day to allow the rower to recover between races. It is not uncommon to have 3-hour gaps between events in which your rower will participate. Bring a chair, prepare for the weather, and bring something to eat as regattas do not always have food vendors.
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Parents of rowers can arrive at and leave from regattas to suit their schedules. Rowers are not permitted to depart from regattas until their coaches dismiss them.
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No. This is forbidden by PRC's rules and regulations. Please refer to the handbook.
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When boats return from an away regatta, they need to be unloaded from the trailer by rowers. Often coaches request that rowers meet at the boathouse on a Sunday afternoon to unload the trailer so that boats are available for practice on Monday. Unloading the trailer may take 2 hours, so plan accordingly.
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The rower's uniform is a unisuit, that is customized to a rower's measurements.
Unisuit orders are placed in late Fall for the Spring regatta season.
For Fall regattas, team attire varies; rowers may be asked to purchase a t-shirt for Fall regattas that they can wear with their practice shorts.
PRC also requires rowers to purchase a traveling shirt for the Spring season.
ROWING COSTS
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Dues cover: the cost of coaching, rower's membership in US Rowing Association, local regatta entry fees, costs to operate and maintain all equipment and operate PRC (see handbook for details), food for rowers at regattas, and the transportation, lodging and food for all rowers at the Southwest Regional regatta in May.
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Transportation costs to any regattas out-of-state or in Southern California have additional travel costs associated with the events and are assessed to all rowers who are selected for the regatta. These additional costs are not included in membership dues and will be assessed only to those rowers who attend the regatta. Coach notification of boat selection occurs approximately one week in advance of the regatta. Invited rowers are expected to reimburse PRC for their portion of these costs before the regatta.
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Rowers will be asked to purchase their uniform (a unisuit and traveling shirt) for the Spring season. Team jerseys and tanks are often purchased for the Fall and Spring seasons. If your rower is selected for an away regatta that requires travel (e.g., out-of-state or Southern California regatta), the rower's family is expected to cover the cost of the rower's travel expenses.
Lake Merced Boathouse
1 Harding Road
San Francisco CA 94132
Support our growth
Pacific Rowing Club is registered as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Contributions to the Pacific Rowing Clubare tax-deductible to the extent permitted by law. The Pacific Rowing Club tax identification number is 43-1998827.