IRCA Board of Directors

Co-president

A native of Whidbey Island, Washington, Greg Hughes currently serves as the Head Coach for the Princeton University Heavyweight Men’s Rowing Team. Currently in his 11th year at the helm, he has complied a 67-21 racing record along with numerous Eastern Sprints and IRA Championship medals, in addition to the Rowe Cup team points total in 2015 and 2016 at the Eastern Sprints. A 1996 Princeton graduate, he has been on the coaching staff since 1997, previously serving as the lightweight varsity and assistant coach. He has also coached at the US Senior and U23 level since 1999.

Representing: Region 4 (New York Metro)
Committee(s) overseen: Promotion & Preservation

Co-president/Co-founder

Chris started rowing at Orange Coast College in 1977 before moving on to race for both Cal and Oxford University. Following trips with the US national team to the 1983 Pan Am games, where he finished second, and the 1985 World Championships, Chris began coaching in 1992 at the US Naval Academy. In 1994 he joined the Wisconsin coaching staff as an assistant before being elevated to the head coach position in the fall of 1996. In 2020 he, along with John Pojednic, founded the Intercollegiate Rowing Coaches Association.

Co-president/Dir. of Ops

Kayleigh Durm oversees the day to day operations of the IRCA and during the summer is the coordinator/head coach of the coxswain education program at Northeast Rowing Center. A graduate of The Ohio State University, she studied sport science and human performance while working for Jim Tressel and the Ohio State football team throughout her senior year. She previously spent three and a half years as the coxswain coach and volunteer assistant with the heavyweight men at MIT and in her spare time works with high school and collegiate coxswains through her blog “Ready all, row…”.

Committee(s) overseen: Membership

Co-founder

John Pojednic and Chris Clark founded the IRCA with the singular goal of helping Men’s Rowing evolve as a varsity intercollegiate sport in the ever-changing landscape of American College Athletics and he endeavors to support the Board of Directors, Committees and IRCA membership through all of the IRCA’s stated initiatives. After two decades at the helm of the Northeastern University men’s team, John retired in 2021. When he’s not coaching he can usually be found in the New England backcountry – usually accompanied by his tenacious Jack Russell Terriers.

Jesse is in his fifth season working with the Harvard men’s program after spending three years with the Columbia University lightweight men. Outside of his time working as a university coach he is also part of the Men’s U19 and U23 system helping to develop athletes as well as preparing crews to race at the World Championships. He started his coaching path working with the novice program at Three Rivers Rowing as well as an assistant coach for the boys at Fox Chapel High School. A native of Pittsburgh, PA and a graduate of Duquesne University, Jesse majored in education before graduating in 2009.

Representing: Region 1 (Massachusetts)
Committee(s) overseen: US National Team

Paul Cooke is in his 20th year as the Head Coach of Heavyweight Crew at Brown University. A 1989 graduate of Brown University with a degree in Biology, Cooke was the Freshmen Coach at Brown for 7 seasons before being named Head Coach. He started his coaching career with Green Lake Crew in Seattle and spent 3 years coaching the Freshmen Lightweights at Cornell in the early ‘90s. Cooke has also coached internationally, both for the US Junior National Team and the U23 US Team. From 2104-2018, he served as President of the IRA Coaches and representative to the IRA Stewards. He lives in Barrington RI with his wife Laura and their three children.

Representing: Region 2 (New England)
Committee(s) overseen: Equity & Inclusion

Paul Bugenhagen is the head coach of rowing at Hobart and William Smith Colleges. Prior to coaching at HWS he was the head coach of men’s rowing at Bucknell University for 6 years. He began his college coaching career at Princeton University as a volunteer assistant coach. He began his coaching career in youth rowing as the head coach of Eastside HS and Gainesville Area Rowing. Paul earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology and a master’s degree in exercise and sports science from the University of Florida. He is a USRowing Level III and FISA Level II certified coach. 

Representing: Region 3 (New York)
Committee(s) overseen: Championship & Competition

Colin Farrell has been the Head Coach of Penn Lightweights since 2014. In 2019, he was named EARC and Ivy League Lightweight Coach of the Year after an historic season where the Varsity Eight won the Sprints championship for the first time since 1976. In addition to his duties at Penn, Farrell coached the U-23 U.S. lightweight national team for seven years, leading the lightweight four to the A Final at the 2015 U-23 World Championships. Prior to Penn, Farrell was an assistant with the Yale Lightweights and an intern coach with the Cornell Heavyweights. Before coaching, Farrell was a three-time U.S. National team rower, winning gold at the 2008 World Championships in the lightweight eight after trips to Worlds in 2006 and 2007 in the lightweight four. He rowed for the Cornell lightweights in college and was inducted into the Cornell Athletic Hall of Fame in 2005. Farrell and his wife, Ellie, reside in New Jersey with their two sons.

Representing: Region 5 (Mid-Atlantic)
Committee(s) overseen: Lightweight

Dan started rowing as a walk-on at the University of Wisconsin in the fall of 1984. Following wins in the Freshmen 8+ in 1985 and the Cincinnati Championships in 1986, he was a member of the Pan Am team in 1987. After returning from the 1988 Olympic trials Dan began a stint as the freshmen coach at Wisconsin before leaving for Gonzaga in the fall of 1994. The 2020-2021 season will be his 27th year as the head coach.

Representing: Region 6 (Midwest/Northwest)
Committee(s) overseen: Legislative Review

Scott Frandsen began his journey at Cal as a student-athlete, graduating in 2002 with a degree in Business Administration and three national championship titles.  After completing a Master’s degree at Oxford and winning the Boat Race against Cambridge, Scott went on to race at three Olympic Games for Canada (2004, 2008, 2012), with the highlight being a Silver Medal in the pair in Beijing.  He has been back at Cal coaching for nine years and is currently in his third as head coach.  Scott and his wife, Tannis, live in Danville, CA with their two children, Owen and Amelia.

Representing: Region 7 (California/Oklahoma)
Committee(s) overseen: Promotion & Preservation

Rob Friedrich is the Director of Rowing at the U.S. Naval Academy. Rob has spent 20 years coaching at Navy, first as the head lightweight coach and now in charge of the heavyweight program. Rob also currently serves as the Coaches' President of the Eastern Association of Rowing Colleges that runs the Eastern Sprints Regatta. Prior to Annapolis, Rob was the head lightweight coach at Rutgers University which is where he rowed in college. When he's not coaching, Rob can be found spending time with his family at their cabin in the Pocono Mountains.

Representing: Region 8 (Mid-South)
Committee(s) overseen: Awards & Polling

Marc Mandel is the head coach of men's rowing at Williams College. He has been involved in the sport of rowing for over 25 years, including positions in Divisions 1, 2 and 3, ten years at the scholastic level, and a summer coaching at the U19 World Championships.

Representing: Region 9 (Division 3 At-large)
Committee(s) overseen: COVID-19 Task Force, Division 3