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Coaching Staff 

Executive Board

Men's Roster

Women's RosterHistorical Rosters

Dan Martin - Head Coach

Office Address: D149 Recreation Center
Email: martdan@gvsu.edu

Coach Martin has been involved with the sport of rowing for over 15 years. He began rowing his junior year of high school at Lake Braddock Secondary School in Burke, VA. He then walked on to the club team at the University of Virginia where he studied chemistry and secondary science education.  Prior to finishing his collegiate career with an ECAC gold medal in the varsity four, he was a part of several novice and JV crews that won against teams like Columbia, Georgetown, Temple, and Navy. Post-graduation, he continued racing in the 1x for the Sandy Run Scullers. Martin says his rowing career taught him that “firstly, it’s vital to be honest with yourself about your present situation - your fitness, your motivation, your effort - before you can be aspirational about your future.” He also learned that you always have more to give as an athlete, even when you think you’ve reached your top gear because “it is only by taking chances and risking failure that we find our true capabilities.”

Martin began his coaching career in 2009 with the Sandy Run Scullers, teaching learn-to-scull classes throughout the summer. In late 2011, he began volunteering with Fairfax High School Rowing and was soon hired as the varsity women’s coach. In his time at Fairfax, he helped grow the program from 27 athletes to 65 and had 12 crews qualify for SRAA Nationals, 5 of them placing in the top 20. He stayed at Fairfax for 6 years before seeking a full-time position at Grand Valley. He coached the novice women his first year, the varsity women the next year, then became head coach in the fall of 2019. 3 of the Grand Valley boats he coached medaled at ACRA National Championship Regatta, 2 of them taking first place. Other notable accomplishments at Grand Valley include winning back the bid at the Head of the Charles Regatta in the Women’s Varsity 8+ and Men’s Varsity 4+ and growing the team to the largest it’s been since he joined the staff.

Martin was inspired to pursue coaching because of everything the sport has done for him. The sport shaped his life professionally and personally. His goal is to give back to the sport that has given him so much by helping athletes the way he was helped. His favorite part of coaching is the day-to-day work and the fun of getting in the launch and helping people figure out the sport. Watching the athletes celebrate after meeting their goals reminds him of why he began coaching; it is a gratifying experience to see hard work pay off. 

Coach Martin’s primary goal is to continue the growth of the team, increasing the number of athletes and the competitive level. Secondly, Martin plans to return Grand Valley to the championship program of the past, setting his sights on the podium at Dad Vail and ACRA regattas in the coming seasons. He hopes he can teach the athletes the life lessons the sport offers: hard work, diligence, sacrifice, breaking up hard tasks into more manageable ones, the importance of delayed gratification, and the confidence that comes from mastering these goals. He believes that learning to row at a high level makes you better not only as an athlete, but also a person; he hopes that athletes will take this message with them as they graduate from the program.

Troy Harding - Assistant Coach

Email: hardintr@gvsu.edu

Coach Harding began rowing at Orange Coast College in 2015, joining the team as a novice and winning a bronze medal in the Novice Men’s 8+ at the ACRA National Championship Regatta. The following year, he competed in the A finals at the ACRA National Championship regatta before transferring schools. He continued his education at the University of California Los Angeles, rowing there for another two years as he completed his Bachelor’s degree in History. He then moved to Texas and rowed for one year at the Austin Rowing Club. The most valuable lesson he learned from his time as an athlete is that keeping a growth mindset is imperative to success. He states, “some people row for all four years, while others row one year four times over.” He believes that it is important to continually improve oneself and never stop growing as an athlete, a belief that sets the foundation for his coaching philosophy. 

Harding started to coach in 2018 at Row LA. He then coached for two more years at Austin Rowing Club and two semesters at the University of Texas. He took the assistant coaching position at GVSU in the summer of 2021, drawn to the program due to its emphasis on local talent and its similarities to the programs he had rowed for. In addition to coaching, he is also completing his Master’s degree in Exercise Science from Concordia University Irvine, equipping him with the knowledge to effectively design a training program. 

Harding was inspired to pursue coaching because of the differences his own coaches made in his life and his desire to do the same for others. He wants to be the coach that sees each athlete as an individual and tells each person specifically how to get faster, personalizing the program for each athlete. He hopes to instill in each of the team members the ability to coach themselves and equip each person with the tools to progress their training after graduation. Harding’s favorite part of coaching is seeing the joy of the athletes as they progress to meet their individual goals as well as watching the team celebrate as they reach their team goals during competitions.

Adam Kolakowski - Novice Women's Coach

Coach Kolakowski began rowing his junior year of high school for the Wyandotte Roosevelt High School Rowing Team. After graduating, Kolakowski continued his rowing career by joining the Grand Valley State University Rowing Club in 2017. He continued to row for GVSU until the spring of 2020 when the season was cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic. While he was unable to finish his rowing career the way he had hoped, his involvement with the sport taught Kolakowski the value of hard work and dedication. He says, “I learned that when times are tough, in any discipline, it is not an excuse to let off, but rather understand you need to put your head down and train even more diligently. The idea of failure never sat right with me before I started rowing, but now I see it merely as a learning experience and a gauge.”

After graduating with his Bachelor’s degree in Business Economics, Kolakowski knew he still wanted rowing to be part of his life and decided to pursue coaching. When he first arrived at GVSU to row, he vowed to change the trajectory of the team and start producing the results the program had in previous years. When a string of injuries prevented him from rowing to his fullest capability, he decided to continue pursuing this goal by joining the coaching staff. He began coaching the novice women at GVSU in the fall of 2021 and has been overjoyed with his new position on the team. 

Kolakowski’s favorite part of coaching is watching concepts finally click in the athletes. He finds it extremely rewarding to help the rowers make changes and be excited about how much better those changes feel. He has also enjoyed watching each individual grow with each other athletically and bond as friends over their common team goals. Kolakowski’s aspiration is for the program to consistently produce medals at major regattas while maintaining a positive and uplifting team environment. He also hopes to teach his athletes that involvement in this sport is not just about rowing; it’s also about the importance of hard work and working together as a team to achieve a common goal. 

Kyle Barnhart - Novice Men's Coach

Email: barnhkyl@gvsu.edu

Coach Kyle Barnhart began rowing in high school and was a four-year coxswain at Grand Valley State University. During his time with the GVSU Rowing Club, he coxed the Women’s Varsity 8+ to a gold medal at the 2013 Dad Vail, helping to secure the women’s team points crown at this prestigious regatta. That same year they also won gold at the ACRA National Championship, securing GVSU’s 6th consecutive team points title, and advanced to the final round at the Henley Women’s Regatta finishing runner up to Oxford University. In 2014 he coxed the Men’s Varsity 8+ to a win at the San Diego Crew Classic, a 5th place finish at the Dad Vail, and a bronze medal at the ACRA National Championship. His career at Grand Valley also included two top 10 finishes at the Head of the Charles Regatta in Boston.

Barnhart has worked in GVSU’s Alumni Relations office since 2017 and is Assistant Director for Alumni Engagement. He joined the rowing club coaching staff in 2021 as the novice men’s coach. Prior to joining the GVSU coaching staff, Barnhart was the junior program head coach at the Grand Rapids Rowing Club for six years. During his time there, the team tripled in size and became a consistent competitor across the Midwest.

Coach Barnhart’s favorite part of coaching is helping athletes by encouraging them to reach their full potential. He recognizes that novice athletes are essential to the foundation of a program, and he aspires to cultivate a consistently competitive novice program in order to set the tone as the athletes move up, thereby ensuring success year to year. 

Barnhart earned his bachelor’s degree in Geography and Urban Planning in 2014 and is currently pursuing a Master’s in Higher Education. He is married to Rhiannon McHenry Barnhart, a 2015 alumnae and former coxswain who won three national championships and the Head of the Charles in her time with the Lakers. They live in Grand Haven with their dog, Maple.

President: McKenzie Sandel

Vice President: Hannah Shorkey

Treasurer: Grace Garrison

Trustees: Jacob Stone & Haley Clark

Secretary: Anna Foster

Academic Chair: Isabel Albaitis

Alumni Relations Chair: Hailey Engvall & Sam Sommerdyke

Clothing Coordinator: Margaret Jastifer & Kiya Hammond

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Officer: James Postle

Fundraising Chair: Maddie Gilbert

Historian: Rebecca Kelley

Rent-a-Rower Coordinator: Jackson Groessl

Risk Management Officer: Maria Rueda-Rodriguez

Social Media Coordinator: Veronica Matthews & Simon Scheer

Wellness Officer: Rebecca Kelley