Coaches

John Cohn

John Cohn was named Head Coach in August 2010. John comes to us with experience rowing at the Miami Beach Rowing Club, University of Delaware and the Pennsylvania Athletic Club, where he won the USRowing National Championships and Royal Canadian Henley Regatta. He was also selected for the US Maccabi Games Rowing Team in 2007. Most recently, John was assistant Head Coach at WYRA and coached the Senior Lightweights for Penn AC’s prestigious summer program.
Email: jcohn@newportrowingclub.org

Rowing Results

2003 Florida State Rowing Championship Regatta
- 3rd Place in Junior Men’s 4+
2003 Sunshine State Games Regatta
- 1st Place in Junior Men’s 1X
- 1st Place in Junior Men’s 4+
- 1st Place in Open Men’s 4+
2003 USRowing National Championship Regatta
- 6th Place in Junior Men’s 4X
2004 Florida State Rowing Championship Regatta
- 4th Place in Junior Men’s 2X
2004 USRowing National Championship Regatta
- 1st Place in Intermediate Men’s Lightweight 8+
2004 Royal Canadian Henley Regatta
- 1st Place in Men’s Senior Lightweight 8+
- 2ndPlace in Men’s Senior Lightweight 8+ Dash
- 5th Place in Men’s Senior Lightweight 4-
2005 Independence Day Regatta
- 1st Place in Men’s Lightweight 4+
2005 Royal Canadian Henley Regatta
- 2nd Place in Men’s Senior Lightweight 8+
- 5th Place in Men’s Senior Lightweight 2-
2007 Maccabi Games
- Selected for US Team

Coaching Results

2009 Independence Day Regatta
- 2nd Place in Men’s Lightweight 8+
2009 USRowing National Championship Regatta
- 1st Place in Intermediate Men’s Lightweight 8+
- 3rd Place in Intermediate Men’s Lightweight 4+
2010 USRowing Youth National Championship Regatta

Lightweight Boys 8+

2011 USRowing Youth National Championship Regatta

6th Place, Men’s 2-

Mark Muzzi

Mark Muzzi is the head coach of NRC’s Women’s rowing team. Before coming to NRC, he was head coach for the Varsity Women at WYRA and the head novice women’s coach at the University of Delaware. Mark has earned Level II coaching certification from USRowing. Mark is a graduate from the University of Delaware, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Criminal Justice.
Email: mmuzzi@newportrowingclub.org

Rowing Highlights
Mark started rowing as a sophomore at Wilmington Rowing Club (now WYRA). During his time there, he placed 3rd at Schoolboy National and 5th at Junior Nationals in Indianapolis in the junior 1x. While at the University of Delaware, as a freshman his novice lightweight 8 won Dad Vails. As a master rower, he has medaled in USRowing Master’s National in both the men’s 4+ and 8+ .

Coaching Results

2010 USRowing Youth National Rowing Championships
Lightweight Girls 4+
Girls Pair – Placed 7th in nation

Daniel Hagelberg

Assistant Coach Daniel Hagelberg was introduced to rowing standing on the banks of the Erie canal watching his sister’s crew practice and compete. His interest was immediately sparked, and he began helping the dock master of Pittsford Crew’s annual Colonial Days Regatta (now known as the Pittsford Regatta).

Seeing the boats up close, the need to be in them grew and as a rising 8th grader Dan participated in Pittsford’s “Learn-to-Row” program. In his freshman year he began rowing for the Pittsford Crew Club and was named captain of his Novice team. After that year Dan learned to scull and later established himself in the local sculling community where he often competed against master rowers 2x, 3x and sometimes 4x his age.

In high school Dan twice represented his club at the Head of the Charles Regatta, once in an eight and the following year in the single as a senior. In the spring of his senior year he became a New York State Champion in the Single Scull and represented his club at the Youth Invitationals in 2004.

After high school, Dan came to the University of Delaware to row as a lightweight. There he would go on to become an Eastern Sprints Champion and row for Delaware all 4 years, always representing the 150′s at big competitions.

Dan brings his love of rowing to the Newport Rowing Club along with his affinity for small boats, fast starts, and counter-intuitive erg music. He hopes to share his passion for bending oars, lightning quick hands and the whole process of making boats move.
Email: dhagelberg@newportrowingclub.org

Jessica Guzik

NRC assistant coach, Jess Guzik, started rowing in 1999 at W.T. Woodson High School in Fairfax, VA, where she was selected team captain in both 2002 and 2003. After high school she went on to row for the University of Notre Dame, lettering all four years and was one of only two rowers in Irish history to represent Notre Dame in three NCAA Championship Regattas. Before coming to NRC, Jess was Head Coach of the Washington and Lee Rowing Team. Jess recently graduated from Washington and Lee University with her law degree and is currently studying for the Delaware Bar Exam.
Email: jguzik@newportrowingclub.org

Rowing Highlights

W. T. Woodson High School (1999-2003) where she was team captain in 2002 and 2003
All-Virginia Rower in 2002
Selected by the Washington Post as an All-Met Rower in 2002 and 2003
Gold medal at the 2002 U.S. Nationals in the Women’s Junior 8+ with Water Street Rowing (now Thompson’s Boat Club)
Bronze medal at the 2003 Scholastic Rowing Association of America National Championship Regatta in the Women’s 4+ with W.T. Woodson High School
University of Notre Dame (2003-2007) where she was a four-year varsity letter winner, current member of the Notre Dame Monogram Club (for alumni with at least three varsity letters)
Contributed to four straight Big East team championships
Big East Academic All-Star Team, 2004-2007
Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association National Scholar Athlete Award, 2007
Notre Dame Club of St. Joseph Valley Rockne Student-Athlete Award, 2007

Coaching Highlights (2008-2010)

Volunteer coach with W.T. Woodson High School, 2008
Head Coach of Washington and Lee Rowing Team (club), 2008-2010
Tripled team roster in first season as coach and prepared team for its first race in two years

Samantha McDonald

NRC assistant coach Samantha “Sam” McDonald started her rowing career at WYRA in 2003 where she rowed for 3 years and then switched to coxing the spring of her junior year. After being recruited to University of Delaware, she coxed the Lightweight Freshman 8+ winning duals against the US Naval Academy, Penn, Dartmouth, and finished 5^th at Eastern Sprints in 2007. In 2008, Sam coxed the Lightweight JV 8+ that finished 5^th at the Dad Vail Regatta. Sam then moved on to cox the Varsity Light 8+ for the next two years. In 2010 her boat finished second at the Dad Vail Regatta in the Varsity 8+, and in 2011 finished 3^rd in the Varsity 8+. Currently, Sam is working on her BA in Marketing at the University of Delaware.
Email: smcdonald@newportrowingclub.org

Simon Ponce

NRC Assistant Coach Simon Ponce started rowing in High School at Miami Beach Rowing Club. He then attended the University of Florida and rowed in the club team, making the finals at FIRA (Florida Intercollegiate Rowing Association). After graduation he started his coaching career at Miami Beach Rowing Club where, during his three years there, he helped a fledgling girls’ program to unprecedented success. He capped his first season with a 2nd place finish in the Florida State Championship and a 1st place and a 3rd place in the Southeast Regional Championship, qualifying for Youth Nationals. During his second season Simon led very successful boats through a grueling racing season capped with a 5th place finish at the State Championship and a 3rd place finish at the Southeast Regional Championship, qualifying for Youth Nationals once again. His last year he had early successes and a solid finish capped by a 2nd place in the Florida State Championship.

Simon continued his coaching career at the Taft School in Watertown, CT where he led a boat to a 3rd place finish at the New England Interscholastic Rowing Association Regatta, the first boy’s boat from Taft to ever medal at NEIRA. He is currently an Assistant Coach for Newport Rowing Club in DE for the summer and a Spanish Teacher and Assistant Coach for St. Paul’s School for Boys in Brooklandville, MD in Fall 2011.
Email: sponce@newportrowingclub.org

Sean Rader

NRC assistant coach Sean Rader began rowing for Collingswood High School as a freshman, and was named captain for the 2007 season. After high school, he rowed for the University of Delaware as a lightweight and spent several summers training for clubs in Philly. Sean sat in Delaware’s varsity lightweight eight for three seasons and defeated several EARC teams in dual racing. He was the Vice President of the team his junior and senior year, and was named co-captain of the lightweight team for his senior year. He will graduate from Delaware with a degree in English and Professional Writing in the Fall of 2011.
Email: srader@udel.edu

Rowing Highlights:

Gold in the Lightweight Varsity 8+ at the 2009 SIRA Regatta
Gold in the Lightweight 8+ and Intermediate Heavyweight 2- at the 2008 USRowing Club National Championship
Gold in the Lightweight 2- at the 2009 USRowing Elite National Championship

Dad Vail Regatta