LMRC COACHES

Alexis started her rowing career in the summer of 2011 at RowLA. She continued rowing through college. In 2019 she graduated from Sacramento State with a degree in Kinesiology with an emphasis on coaching. 

Alexis brings a well rounded wealth of knowledge from being a part of RowLA, Orange Coast Crew, Southern California Scullers, Sacramento State, Berkeley High Crew and East Bay Rowing Club.  Along with being at LMRC, she is the Novice Women’s coach at Berkeley High Crew. 

Max signed up for learn to row through LMRC’s Laney College grant program. He was hooked from day one because rowing combined all his favorite things: water, community, birds, physical challenges, and the need to work together. He started rowing with the novice team and he now rows with the intermediate team and cox's for any team that needs it.

Currently he is enrolled at Samuel Merritt University, getting his masters degree in Occupational Therapy. His favorite foods include laminated dough, haiga rice, and anything cooked by his girlfriend/Lake Merritt’s Number One Fan, Dana Croteau. Max has a cat and a bunny and will talk to you about animals anytime you like. Or rowing. Or anything else, really. 

Coach Connie started rowing in 1985 at the University of Freiburg in Germany and continued to row competitively in Canada (Trent University), Switzerland (Rowing Club Bern), and in the USA (San Diego RC, Syracuse RC, and Lake Merritt RC.).    

Connie has been coaching youth and adult teams of all skill levels for over 20 years. She began coaching at Lake Merritt Rowing Club in 2009 and currently coaches the LMRC Recreational Team as well as the LMRC Youth Team. In addition, she teaches Community-Learn-To-Row classes and has been involved in the organization of various team building events.

When she is not at Lake Merritt, you will either find her at the College of Alameda where she teaches Biology and Oceanography, or on one of the many Bay Area trails with her Golden Retriever companion Finn.

Daphne began rowing in 2016, when she walked onto the club team at UC Davis. While there, she helped the novice team medal at ACRA, set the team’s 2k erg record, and made the ACRA West All-Regional Team in 2018. 

Daphne joined LMRC during the pandemic and is currently competing for the competitive masters team.  She has a teaching background in swimming, dance, and soccer and is currently earning her Level 1 US rowing coaching certificate. She is looking forward to teaching the Learn to Row program. 

Coach Blaney has been coaching LMRC youth since 2024. She has also been a Youth Run Coach for over 15-years, and has served as Executive Director for local non-profit organizations that provide social, and emotional learning within the context of sports. She thrives on the chaotic energy of tweens and teens!

In the world of rowing, Claire is still relatively new, but she has secured both a gold and silver medal in the Petaluma Marathon distance row in a single sculling boat. She loves the technical, and meditative aspects of this sport,  and appreciates the wide range of goals rowers can set for themselves. She looks forward to helping guide our community of youth with support and joy, to succeed, collaborate, and persist individually and together.