Our Coaches
Rochester Boat Club is delighted to have the following coaches on staff:
Coach Zoe’s rowing career began with the Illinois Rowing Association (at the University of Illinois), where she both competed and coached. Since moving to Rochester in 2019, she has rowed with Flower City and coached at the University of Rochester, Pittsford Crew, and Fairport Crew, in addition to RBC. Zoe has significant competitive accomplishments both as sweep rower and as a sculler. They include six medals at the Masters National Championships, two of which she earned this past summer. Zoe has continued to hone her rowing expertise in training sessions with Austrian high-performance coach Aram Lemmerer. She has a Bachelor’s of Arts in Music Business, and is currently pursuing her MBA at the University of Rochester.
Coach Megan began rowing in Rochester, NY at Mercy High School. She rowed for Mercy for five years and continued her rowing career on the Mercyhurst University Heavyweight Women’s Rowing team. During this time she placed second at Dad Vails in 2018 and first at Dad Vails in 2021 in the women’s varsity eight. In 2021, she also placed second at the NCAA Rowing Championships in the women’s eight in Sarasota, Florida. After graduating, she is currently working in an Organics Prep Lab at an Environmental Company. She has begun her coaching career at Rochester Boat Club this winter session. Although new to coaching, her love for rowing has helped her adapt to coaching others.
Coach Steve began his rowing career at Farmington High School in Connecticut. After high school, Steve continued rowing while attending the University of Pittsburgh. He competed in the lightweight collegiate level for 4 years. He has rowed with the Riverfront Recapture Rowing club which is one of the largest and most successful programs in New England. Since moving to Rochester, NY he has been sweeping and sculling with RBC. He loves early mornings on the canal, and rowing through the village of Fairport around dinner time. Outside of the club, he is a pharmacist at the University of Rochester Medical Center. Steve brings a wealth of rowing experience and knowledge with him not only as a competitor, but as a teammate and now coach.
Coach Frank was first introduced to rowing in 2015 as a walk-on coxswain for The Rochester Institute of Technology rowing team. He continued coxing over the next 4 years, including serving as team captain his fourth year. Since retiring from collegiate racing Frank has enjoyed rowing both sweep and scull, focusing on rowing in the singles category. Above all, Frank is a competitor and sports enthusiast and is an active masters coxswain and rower as well as competitive cycler. Frank is currently a manufacturing engineer for Southco Inc. located in Honeoye Falls. As a coach, coxswain, and rower, Frank strongly believes in the RIT motto “Any seat, Any boat, Any time”. He is excited to share this philosophy and help those looking to better themselves through the sport of rowing.
Coach Andrew rowed with the Pittsford Crew Club while attending Pittsford High School in Pittsford, NY. He began coaching with Rochester Boat club’s Learn to Row program in the 2021 – 2022 Winter rowing session. He has since joined coaching with Rochester Boat Club to further his experience. He is currently attending Jacksonville University in Florida. In addition to his academic studies, Andrew is pursuing a pilot’s license to become a commercial pilot. Andrew looks forward to returning to Rochester, NY in the summer to coach in person with Rochester Boat Club and continue his coaching career.
Coach Giva started rowing in 2004 as a Masters rower. Since then, she has participated in multiple national and international regattas including Masters Nationals, the Head of the Charles, and Henley Masters Regatta in England. A few highlights were her first-place finishes at the Canadian Henley Regatta in her 1x and W2x, and at the World Masters Regatta in the W2x and W8+. At the international C.R.A.S.H.-B. Sprints she received silver and her best 2k erg time at 7:27 under Lightweight Senior Women Age 40-49. Giva is the Head Sculling Coach at Fairport Crew and has her USRowing Level 2 Coaching Certification.
Coming soon…
Coach Gordon has been rowing both sweep and sculling boats for 22 years. Originally from Pittsburgh, PA Gordon learned to row a single on the Allegheny river before joining his high school rowing team. He continued rowing at Tulane University, where he graduated as the stroke seat of the men’s varsity eight. Gordon began coaching for Pittsburgh rowing clubs during college and continued to do so after graduating. He has coached all levels of the sport from high school to collegiate to masters rowers. Previous coaching positions include Steel City Rowing Club, Carnegie Mellon University, and Taylor-Allderdice High School. During this time Gordon also earned a Masters degree in teaching and worked as a middle and high school science teacher in Pittsburgh prior to moving to the Rochester area in 2020.