Junior Coaches
Sharon BonDurant
Middle School Coach
I retired in 2022 from IU Health after 35 years of Nursing. Much of my career was spent in Risk Management and Patient Safety.
I started assisting with coaching new rowers in the summer of 2021 and that fall I completed my US rowing Level 2 Coaching certification. My first official coaching position was to assist Willie Black with the winter training for the middle school group. It was so much fun watching the kids meet new friends, learn how to row, and have fun while doing it!
Julia Burroughs
Boys Novice Coach
Nich Holston
Varsity Sculling Coach
Eric Stoll
Girls Novice Coach
Sam Knauss
Boys Black Coach
I began rowing at IRC in 2012 as an 8th grader. Before I started rowing, I was a swimmer, and when my dad asked me to try rowing, I told him “absolutely not, I’m never quitting swimming”. He made me try it anyways and I immediately quit swimming to start rowing and never looked back. I rowed all of high school at IRC, and when I was injured my senior year, I got my first taste of coaching by helping out with the novice girls instead of rowing. That summer I coached the novice summer camps and learned I loved teaching novices how to row. In the fall I went to Purdue and rowed my freshman year with Purdue Crew, but after being plagued with injury and burnout I decided it was time to take a break from rowing.
In the summer of 2020, I came back to IRC to help coach the junior summer program. All the kids were rowing in singles in order to social distance, and most had never sculled before, let alone row in a single. Teaching novice scullers how to row singles was chaotic, but I had a lot of fun and learned a lot about how to teach the basics of rowing.
In 2022, after graduating college and moving to Colorado for a year, I moved back to Indianapolis and found myself back at IRC 10 years after I first started rowing. In the summer I coached the early morning junior practice and specialized in coming up with all sorts of interesting “Fun Friday” practices. In the fall, I was supposed to help coach the varsity men, but after ending up with the novice men instead a few times I decided to adopt them and became the dedicated novice men’s coach.
I have a lot of love for this sport, and as I continue coaching novices, I hope to instill that love and excitement for rowing in all my rowers!
I grew up playing football and wrestling through high school, two sports that are definitely not set up to be lifelong activities. I spent the subsequent years looking for any competitive opportunity I could find. This led me to many bike races, triathlons, weight lifting, running and any other thing that looked like fun.
After breaking my neck in a mountain bike race, I started looking for something different, and found rowing. I enjoyed the challenge right away and wanted to get better at it. This of course led to becoming a competitive masters rower. Competing in a lifelong sport, in which you can continue to improve technically despite age taking some of your physical attributes is a challenge I always look forward to.
As I progressed through the sport I began to coach. Originally, I worked with masters rowers who wanted to learn to scull. I was asked to fill in one day for a juniors practice and have never looked back. The energy of the kids and the opportunities the sport offers to them are things I enjoy.
As the Varsity Sculling Coach, I get to work with very motivated athletes. Helping them to achieve their goals in the sport is my focus.
I have goals of my own as a competitive masters rower and have found that the kids I coach are very interested in helping me as well. What a wonderful situation I find myself in!
When not on the water, I enjoy spending time with my wife Karen, and our dog Buckley.
I started rowing as a high school freshman in 1967 at South Kent School in Connecticut. In college I rowed for Washington College, Chestertown, MD. In 1976 I was hired as men’s head coach at Washington College. I moved to Philadelphia in 1981 to be head rowing coach at Villanova University. In 1982 I left coaching for the opportunity to work for United States Rowing Association in Philadelphia. USRowing relocated to Indianapolis in 1985 (and have since relocated to Princeton). I left USRowing in 1987.
In spring 1996 I became a volunteer coach for the Indianapolis Rowing Center and in July of that year was hired as executive director and head coach. In 2007 l retired and once again became a volunteer coach. My passion is introducing young people to the sport of rowing.
I have had the privilege of coaching my son Adam and daughter Rachel at IRC. Adam rowed for Saint Joseph’s University in Philadelphia and coached for Berkeley School in Tampa. Rachel rowed for Marquette University and coached the men’s novice team after she graduated.
My wife Deborah, who also rowed at Washington College, and I row on the master’s team at IRC. Deborah and I split our time between Tampa and Indianapolis. In the winter I have coached at Berkeley School and Hillsborough High School.