Tina's rowing career started over ten years ago in Chicago, IL with LPJ-Chicago, where she was a three-time silver medalist at the Midwest Junior Regional Championship, along with two appearances at the USRowing Youth National Championship. After spending a summer with the Junior National Development Team, she then earned a scholarship to row for the University of Minnesota, where she made the Academic All Big-Ten team, earned four varsity letters, the Big-Ten Sportsmanship Award, and a Big-Ten Team Championship to boot.
Tina has coached at Minneapolis Rowing Club, University of Minnesota, and is now entering her third year at the helm of TCYR. In those three years, her crews have developed into regional contenders, with over half of the alumni rowing in college (some even on scholarship).
Quote from Tina: "For me, rowing has always been about community. Beyond the competition, rowing has allowed me to experience and become a part of a very rich and deep community of vibrant role models and teammates. My vision in becoming a part of TCYR was to create and bring that community to the young athletes of Minnesota."
John Davis - Head Boys Coach and Boys' Varsity Coach
JD is well known at TCYR as a board member, volunteer and parent, and his rowing experience goes far back. John was a member of the Rusty Callow Award winning 1974 UC Irvine crew, and was a national champion oarsman and Olympic trials finalist.
2010 will mark JD's 23rd season as a rowing coach, most notably at Minneapolis Rowing Club and Stanford Crew. Five times, his Stanford women's varsity eights finished in the top five nationally and eight of his oarswomen became US national team or Olympic rowers. While at Stanford, John met his wife, Wendy, who is currently the Head Women's Rowing Coach at Minnesota. Both of the Davis boys have also rowed. Bill is a first-year rower for TCYR, and Jake, a US Marine, rowed one year for MRC.
Quote from JD: "After many years, I find I am still idealistic about rowing because a rowing crew cannot be successful without hard work and responsibility. Rowing is a great experience for young people because giving one's all for others in the boat is an intrinsic part of going fast. Through this interdependence, positive values and the virtues of teamwork become habit. The coaches' role is to create an atmosphere for success in terms of personal development as well as boat speed. In fact, they go hand-in-hand."
Brittany Rapp - Assistant Coach, Novice Girls
Hello everyone. I think it is about time that I introduce myself. My name is Brittany Rapp, I am the new Novice Girls coach. I wanted to let you all know a little bit about myself and my rowing career. It started when I was a sophomore in Willmette, IL with Loyola Academy Rowing Association (LARA), a program organized though my school. During my time there I received two gold medals at Scholastic-Midwest Championships and had the opportunity to race against Tina!!
As a senior I received a scholarship to row for the University of Wisconsin-Madison. I was Captain two of the four years, earned gold and silver medals at Big Ten Championships, gold at South Centrals Championships, and culminated my rowing career with a second place medal at NCAA championships. I received the Unsung Hero award for 2005, which was voted upon by all of the student athletes at the university. That same year I also received the Academic Momentum award, rewarded to only two student athletes each year from all the schools in the country.
After graduating from Madison with a degree in Special Education, I moved to Minnesota and began a teaching position near the Twin Cities. I recently contacted Tina in hopes of receiving some guidance on how to get back involved in rowing. She called me back and the next thing I knew I had a job coaching for Twin Cities Youth Rowing Club. I am extremely excited to be a part of this rowing program and your children’s rowing experiences. I am eager to see these young rowers grow to love the sport of rowing and hopefully to help them see all the opportunities this sport can provide.
If you are ever around the boathouse or at regattas, please do not hesitate to come up and introduce yourself.
Favorite quote: “Be the change you wish to see in the world” -Gandhi. Rowing was what changed my life, by showing me the there is no boundary that cannot be confronted and transcended. The goals I reached and the trials over which I triumphed over have given me the knowledge of how to bring out the best in myself. Through coaching I hope to bring out the best in my rowers and help them see their own potential and aid in helping them achieve it.
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The mission of Twin Cities Youth Rowing program is to build teamwork, responsibility and excellence in high school youth through the sport of rowing
