Juniors Coaches Juniors Assistant Coaches
Adult Program Coaches
Juniors Coaches
Walker Hauptman – Deputy Director of Rowing & Varsity Boys Coach
Walker, a proud BIR rowing alumnus, returns to BIR with a wealth of experience – 9 years of progressive rowing and coaching. His passion for athlete development and unwavering commitment to the sport have left a lasting mark
During his collegiate years, Walker competed at Lewis and Clark College and Western Washington University, earning his place at Nationals multiple times. Most recently, as the Head Novice Coach at the University of Virginia (UVA), he contributed to one of the nation’s premier rowing programs by coaching the Novice Men’s 8+ to a national championship in 2022.
Additionally, Walker served as the Masters Coach at Rivanna Rowing Club in Virginia, Head Coach at Whatcom rowing Association, and Men’s Assistant Coach at Western Washington University.
Walker’s return to BIR is a homecoming – a reunion of passion, expertise, and dedication. As our Deputy Director of Rowing and Head Coach for the junior boys, he will inspire the next generation of rowers.
Chelsea Vessenes – Varsity Girls Coach
Chelsea is a competitive rower with not only a passion for the sport but, through her own experience and that of her children, a solid compassion for and understanding of the unique challenges of student athletes. Her talent for rowing was born on the Stanford University crew team and has continued into her daily life on Bainbridge Island where, in addition to participating at nationally competitive regattas such as US Masters Nationals, Opening Day/Windermere Cup, Head of the Lake, and Head of the Charles, you will often see her out on Eagle Harbor practicing with our BIR masters.
Tim Goss – Novice Boys Coach
Tim joined BIR as the Juniors Novice coach and as a sculler in 2008. As the program has grown, he has continued to lead the Novice Boys and has taken on head coaching responsibilities for the Juniors program. He also rows regularly with the Masters men, including most recently in the 4+ BIR sent to Head of the Charles Regatta.
Growing up, Tim’s main sport was nordic ski racing. On a whim, he first tried rowing in high school at Andover. He continued skiing and rowing at Williams College where his Lightweight 4+ was second at the Dad Vail Regatta, the division III championships at the time. After graduation, Tim coached crew at Lakeside Academy in Seattle, which included his first trip to the Brentwood Regatta in B.C.
Work and small kids intervened, and apart from rowing a single in circles on Green Lake, he did little rowing until his oldest child joined the fledgling BIR club as a high school rower. Tim reconnected with the sport at BIR and has been hooked ever since, enjoying the coaching, the rowing, and the wonderful community of like-minded folks.
Sue Entress – Novice Girls Coach
Sue’s involvement with Bainbridge Island Rowing began 12 years ago, when her then 14-year-old son was introduced to the sport through the BIR juniors program. She fell in love with the sport and learned to row herself right here at BIR! She’s the proud parent of 3 (now adult) children (two are BIR junior alumni rowers) and has gained a deep appreciation of the specific academic, emotional and physical challenges and rewards of being a high school student-athlete. In addition to coaching, she continues to compete with the BIR masters and has participated in US Masters Nationals, Opening Day/Windermere Cup, Head/Tail of the Gorge, Head of the Lake, and Head of the Charles Regattas.
She joined the BIR Board of Directors in 2016 and was served as Board President from 2017 – 2020 before stepping into the role of BIR Communications Chair. She enjoys not only her time on the water with youths and adults, ranging in age from 14 to 87, but also the strong sense of community gained from the welcoming, inclusive program.
Kristen Gagnon – 8th Grade Coach
Photo and bio to come.
Bruce Beall – Director of Rowing, Emertius
Bruce has had a storied rowing career both as a competitor and as a coach. He rowed for the University of Washington from 1970-73, where he won a silver medal in the Pan American Games in the Men’s 8+ and earned a place in the UW Athletic Hall of Fame. Among his many competitive achievements are appearances at the following:
- European Championships, Moscow 1973 Pair w/coxswain
- World Rowing Championships, Lucerne 1974 Four w/o coxswain
- Pan American Games, San Juan 1979 Bronze Medal Quadruple Sculls
- World Rowing Championships, 1983 Sculling Team
- Olympic Games, 1984 Quadruple Sculls
Bruce’s coaching career began in 1974 at Boston University. In the 1980s he moved on to Harvard University to work with the Varsity Lightweight Men’s crew, followed by a stint as Program Director and Varsity Men’s coach at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
A subsequent move to the west coast resulted in a coaching position at the University of California at Berkeley from 1988-92 and then as Executive Director/Director of Rowing for the first 12 years of the Pocock Foundation’s existence. Bruce coached both the US Lightweight Men’s Four at the 1983 World Rowing Championships and the Heavyweight Men’s Quad at the 1987 World Rowing Championships.
Bruce was one of the co-founders of the CRASH-B World Indoor Rowing Championships, authored the Athletes Column in the national rowing magazine for 4 years, served 2 terms on the USRowing Board of Directors, and was a member of the USRowing High Performance Committee for the 4 years leading up to the Athens Olympics.
As a coach for the BIR Varsity Boys, Bruce has taken his boys in the BIR boat to Nationals almost every year over the past decade, highlights have included the Lightweight 4+ earning a silver medal in 2013, and the Heavyweight 4+ finishing 8th in the nation in 2014. He currently organizes a college recruiting fair every summer bringing 30+ college coaches from around the country in July first to Seattle and then to Oakland.
Juniors Assistant Coaches
John Michael Najarian – Assistant Coach
John Michael Najarian began his rowing career as a freshman in high school at Bainbridge Island Rowing. In 2015 John Michael competed at youth national in the lightweight 4+, placing 10th overall. John Michael attended and rowed for Washington State University where he earned a B.S. in Civil Engineering. While rowing at WSU, John Michael served as Men’s Commodore for the 2019-2020 season. After graduating, John Michael decided to return to WSU where he served as the Novice Men’s coach from 2021-23 while earning a M.S. in Civil Engineering.
Mary Alice O’Neill – Assistant Coach
Rowing has been an important part of Mary Alice’s life since 2005 when she began rowing with BIR Masters. Rowing is definitely a lifetime sport as she still enjoys being a BIR Masters competitive rower. As a retired educator being able to coach the junior crew team allows Mary Alice to combine two of her passions – working with youth and rowing. Her other passion is sailing. She and her husband sailed offshore double-handed over 100,000 nautical miles, including a circumnavigation. She remains a participant in the local sailing community. She believes that many of life’s lessons can be discovered on the water.
Tim Fowler – Assistant Coach
Tim is a Ph.D. biologist by training, spent 12 years in the Biotech industry followed by 17 years teaching Biology and Biotechnology in High School. Relatively new to rowing, Tim joined BIR in 2021 and quickly became hooked on the mental and physical demands of the sport and the friendship and community that the club provides. Given the opportunity to assist Coach Kristen with the eight-grade rowing program, Tim jumped at the chance and now regularly joins her on Monday, Wednesday and Saturdays to teach the basics of the craft of rowing.
Ena Nimb – Assistant Coach
Ena, a BIR alum, started rowing in 7th grade, initially focusing on sculling before transitioning to sweeping. She competed at Youth Nationals for four years before graduating from Bainbridge High School in 2013. Ena then rowed Division I at Northeastern University in Boston for four years, where she studied Business with concentrations in Finance and Accounting. She competed at the NCAA Championship every year and participated in the Royal Henley Regatta in London, marking her first international and final collegiate regatta. Ena now works remotely in Biotech and is very excited to return to the sport in a new capacity as an assistant coach for the girls Varsity team.
Barb Trafton – Varsity Girls Mentor Coach
While a student at Princeton, Barb rowed for four years in the first varsity boat, winning the Eastern Sprints her senior year. She was selected to the U.S. Under-23 Team in 1983 and went on to win a silver medal at the FISA World Championships in 1984 as the lightweight single sculler. In 1985, she finished fourth at the World Championships with the USA double. Barb served on the U.S. Rowing National Lightweight Committee for many years, pushing to get lightweight women’s rowing into the Olympics—which finally occurred in 1992. She served as Varsity Girls coach for 5 years, before becoming the executive director of the Bainbridge Island Parks Foundation.
Adult Program Coaches
Grant Dull – Adult Program Coach
Grant rowed with the National Team in the early 1980s, receiving coaching from notable figures such as Stan Pocock, Frank Cunningham, Harry Parker, Harry Swetnam, Dick Erickson, and Bruce Beall. His best finish during this period was second place at the 1983 Pan Am Singles Trials. After stepping away from rowing for several decades, Grant began coaching Juniors and Adults at BIR in 2001. He also served as President of the Board for three years. Grant continues to row his single, “Constant Craving,” on Sunday mornings.
Redge Campbell – Adult Program Coach
After a long career in the medical field, is back coaching his passion, crew rowing, with the Bainbridge Island masters program. His current focus is on the evening and weekend competitive sweep and scull sessions, but he’s been known to show up wherever and whenever his coaching talents are needed!
Jane Stewart – Adult Rowing Coach
Photo and bio to come.
Kathy Maher – Adult Program and Learn-to-Row Coach
Barbara Shane- Adult Program Learn-to-Row Coach
Barbara first discovered rowing in college and reignited that passion 15 years ago with BIR. Now, she’s dedicated to helping others learn the sport. Barbara believes rowing is a great way to get fit, have fun and be part of one of the best teams on the island.
Sydney Gibbs – Adult Program
Sydney, a BIR alum, joined in the summer of 2012 as both a rower and a coxswain, quickly transitioning to full-time coxing in the fall. In 2014, she coxed the Women’s Lightweight 8+ to a 9th place finish at Youth Nationals. After graduating from Bainbridge High School in 2015, she coxed Division I at the University of Connecticut (UConn) for four years, earning a degree in Sport Management.
Post-college, Sydney has worked with the Boston Red Sox and Brooklyn Nets and currently serves as a remote analyst for a sports industry consulting company. With prior coaching experience as the Juniors’ Novice Girls coach in 2016, she is excited to return to the water with the Adult rowing program.
Tom Coble – Adult Program Coach
Tom and his wife Linda have been an active part of the Bainbridge community for more than 20 years. Prior to that, Tom was a partner in a Behavioral Consulting firm headquartered in Los Angeles until his retirement in 2009. Tom has a B.A. from California State University in Communications and a Masters in Human Resources and Organizational Development from San Francisco University.
Tom came to rowing indirectly through his son who rowed in high school and at university. He came directly to the sport after retirement and soon moved from sweep boats to sculling, where you will find him when out on the water today.
Tom was President of the Bainbridge Island Rowing Board from 2010 to 2013. He currently serves on the Board as the liaison with the City of Bainbridge Island for the new Stan Pocock Rowing Center.
When not on the water or in the boatyard, Tom can be found chasing fish with a fly rod, singing with the Bainbridge Chorale, making a mess (and good food) in the kitchen, and trying to keep the forest at bay from the house.
Helping Bainbridge Island Rowing continue to grow and succeed is his passion.
“A coach is someone who always makes you do what you don’t want to do, so you can be who you’ve always wanted to be”.
Leeman Bennett
