Coaches of Sammamish- 2018/2019

Meet Some of Your Coaches of 2018/2019!

Tom Woodman
Tom rowed at Oregon State University and then on the 1978-1981 US National Teams.  Some of his rowing highlights include racing in the 1980 Olympic eight (second fastest in the world behind the doping East Germans), winning the Grand Challenge Cup at Henley, and winning a silver medal at the 1981 World Championships in a 4+. In 1981 he was the head men’s coach at OSU.   After taking  a break from rowing, he returned in 2007, taking the position as a head coach of a small 5am Masters group at SRA.   The group has grown in size and enjoyed an unrivaled success at major regattas over the past 12 years

Tom has structured the program with a focus on maximizing water time and making the fastest boats possible.  Selection is based on a variety of criteria but paramount is seat racing.  Typically boats training for the priority regattas will train together for at least the month leading up to the race.   

Eliza Dickson
Liza Dickson enters her second year as Experienced Boys Head Coach at Sammamish Rowing Association.
Dickson arrived at SRA with an extensive background in coaching rowing. She served as boys’ varsity coach for Sarasota Crew in Sarasota, Fla. Sarasota Crew won the varsity eight at youth nationals in 2013.
She led Sarasota Crew to several state and regional championships from 2009-13. Sarasota Crew took runner-up in the boys’ varsity eight in 2012 after taking fourth the previous year and ninth in 2010 in national competition. Additionally, Sarasota Crew collected two wins at the Head of the Charles regatta during her tenure.  Many Sarasota alumni have competed for the U.S. junior national team, under-23 national team and one is currently training with the Senior National team.

​Dickson holds a level 3 coaching certification from USRowing. Dickson has developed junior scullers at the Vesper Boat Club in Philadelphia as well as coached at the Craftsbury Sculling Center in Vermont.
Also in Florida, Dickson has been Director of Rowing at Pine Crest School in Fort Lauderdale and Manager and Head Coach of Miami Beach Rowing Club.
Dickson entered coaching following her college rowing career, becoming the first head coach for the Annapolis Junior Rowing Program. She also served as assistant women’s coach at Colgate University.
Liza spent 4 years in Oklahoma City.  In 13-14 and 14-15, Dickson primarily served as the Women’s Rowing Coach for Oklahoma City University.  During that time Liz Mathews medaled at the Head of the Charles and won the National Championship in the 1x at the Dad Vail Regatta twice.  In 2015, the Women’s team finished 5th in the Women’s Varsity 8+ at the Southern Intercollegiate Rowing Regatta (SIRA) – a highest ever finish for the women.  Also in 2015, Dickson coached a Lightweight 2x in its inaugural year at the Intercollegiate Rowing Association (IRA) to a fifth place finish.
In the spring of 2016, Dickson coached both the Men’s and Women’s squads.  At the SIRA Regatta the Women won the Petite Final of the Women’s Varsity 8+.  Every Men’s entry collected a medal: the Men’s 2- notched OCU’s first SIRA gold ever, the Men’s 4+ finished 2nd and the Men’s Varsity 8+ finished 3rd.  The Stars qualified for the IRA Regatta for the 2nd time. The Lightweight 2x finished 6th, the Men’s Varsity 4+ finished 26th and the Men’s Varsity 8+ finished 23rd.
Also, while in Oklahoma City, Dickson coached High Performance and Development Athletes at the Oklahoma City National High Performance Center.  In 2015, she was named the Women’s Coach for the US Team at the World University Games in South Korea. In 2016 she coached athletes competing both at Olympic and world Championship Trials.
Collegiately, Dickson competed for Washington College (Chestertown, Md.) under Coach Mike Davenport. Dickson earned her degree in political science from Washington. Dickson is originally from St. Michaels, Md.

Lee Henderson
Lee Henderson was born and raised in Ohio. While in high school he competed in cross country and track. While attending the Ohio State University he joined the crew team and competed as a lightweight. After graduating, Lee took a position with the OSU women’s novice team introducing walk-on athletes to the sport of rowing. The success of the novice women’s team laid the foundation for OSU to take the women’s program varsity. 

In 2006 Lee joined the Sammamish Rowing Association as the head coach of the Weekend/Evening Masters Recreational team. After coaching the team for a couple years Lee stepped away to complete his masters at Bastyr University. In 2009 Lee returned to SRA as a learn to row coach. From there he and James Conlu started to build an evening competitive team, known today as the Evening Masters Competitive team (ECM). The team has gone on to compete and win medals at the Head of the Charles, Masters Nationals and Worlds. 

Simon Williams
Simon rowed at Shawnigan Lake School in BC Canada. He represented Canada at the Junior Worlds in the 2+ (’69) and 1x (’70). As an Elite sculler he medaled at US Nationals and had top 5 finishes at the Head of the Charles. As a Master rower he medaled at NW Regionals, Canadian and US Masters Championships and won the C1x Head of the Lake. Prior coaching includes Women’s Coach and Head Coach at Yorktown HS in Arlington VA and Sculling Coach at Potomac Boat Club. At SRA he has coached the Novice boys since 2010. He is an Architect and his free time he likes to do Yoga and rest!
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Steven Freygang

Steven currently serves as the Executive Director of Sammamish Rowing Association and sometimes will fill in as a coach when needed. He is also seen sometimes riding around in a launch watching practices. 

Steven’s rowing career began in 2001 at Winter Park High School in Winter Park, FL, where he won two state championships and a national championship in the Varsity 8+. After his freshmen year of rowing at the University of Washington, Steven hung up the oar and began coaching for Sammamish as the novice boys' coach during the 2006/07 season. In 2008, Steven returned to his alma mater Winter Park High School where he worked as a teacher and coach for five years, including two years as head coach. During his tenure at Winter Park, the program won three state championships and two national championships in 2009 and 2012. Steven returned to Sammamish in 2013 to lead the junior boys’ team and has since coached every program at SRA. In June of 2016 Steven was promoted to his current role as the Executive Director. Steven has a bachelor’s degree in business management from the University of Central Florida and a master’s degree in athletic administration from the University of Washington. 

Kelley Pope
Kelley began her rowing career at the University of Wisconsin-Madison on the lightweight team from 2005-2009. There, she won the Lightweight 8+ at Eastern Sprints and the IRA National Championships in 2008 and was Academic All Big Ten Athlete, CRCA Lightweight All-American, National Scholar Athlete, and Team Captain. She began her coaching career at Crystal Lake Rowing Club in Illinois in 2008 and decided to continue her passion at Sammamish when she moved to Seattle in 2012. In her free time, she enjoys hiking, camping, rafting, and backpacking with her husband and dog. 

Kelley and her husband welcomed a baby girl on September 17th, 2018. She plans to come back to SRA in early 2019.

Elizabeth Webb Wilson
Elizabeth graduated from the University of Florida in May 2018. During her time in the Gator Nation she spent 4 years as a certified fitness instructor teaching classes such as Total Body, iBurn, Stadiums, Interval Training, Cycle, Gator Theory, and Core.

Elizabeth rowed in the second varsity boat at Winter Park High School in Florida. She rowed as a port and started off in 3 seat moving her way up to 5 seat and then 7 seat. Her favorite spot was 5 seat. She now rows recreationally and this is her first year coaching! When she isn't at the boathouse she is often hiking, backpacking, baking, or reading in a cozy nook. 

David DeWinter
David first picked up an oar right here at SRA in our Masters Learn to Row program in 2009. He didn't know anything then about the beauty of being on the water, the thrill of racing, and the camaraderie of growing with a team from their first strokes to national and international competition, but he learned to appreciate these and many other lessons over his almost 10 years in the sport. During that time, he learned from great mentors at Sammamish and other clubs in the Seattle area to become the rower he is today.

David's many years of hard work, smart training, and willingness to learn new things resulted in multiple medal-winning performances at some of the world's most prestigious regattas for masters, including the Head of the Charles, Masters' Nationals, and Masters' Worlds. Afterward, David shifted his focus to passing on his passion for rowing in the same way his coaches had done for him. He now coaches the Masters Sculling and Experienced Girls teams as part of his never-ending drive to help every rower reach their potential.

When not coaching, David uses his background in technology to create a better world for coaches and rowers through his work at RowHero.