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2019 Frostbite Coaches

Aaron Huston (GHCKRT) is the head coach for the Gig Harbor Canoe and Kayak Racing Team and a National Team Coach. In 2017, he was the canoe coach for the Olympic Hopes Regatta (OHR) team and in 2018 and 2019 was the OHR head coach. In 2018 and 2019, he coached Jr/U23 World Championship teams and in 2019 coached the canoe athletes at the World Championships.
Greg Barton (SCKC) won two gold medals in sprint kayak in the 1988 Seoul Olympics and was an Olympic bronze medallist in 1984 and 1992 in the K1 1000m. In 1987 he was a double world champion in the K1 in 1000m and 10,000m and won world championships in the 10,000m in 1985 and 1991. He also won multiple U.S. Canoe Association marathon (20km+) championships from 1982 through 1994. He is still actively competing in surfski races, and in 2018, he and Kevin Olney won the Seventy48 race in a surf ski K2. His company, Epic Kayaks, designs and produces Olympic sprint kayaks, paddles and surf skis.
Christa Gall (OKC) is the assistant coach for the OKC RIVERSPORT Junior Canoe/Kayak Team. She started paddling at age 15. She won Pan American gold in the K2 at the 2014 Canoe Marathon World Championships. She has been coaching for OKC since 2016 and was one of the assistant coaches at this years Olympic Hopes Regatta in Slovakia.
Jason Cross (SCKC) grew up as a competitive swimmer. In his teens, he was introduced to the sport of surf lifesaving and took up surf ski to compete internationally. Jason represented Team Canada at the Surf Lifesaving World Championships 5 times as an athlete and later as a coach. He began sprint kayak racing in Nova Scotia in 2001 and paddled with SCKC 2007-2015. Jason coached swimming professionally for two decades and is a level 4/5 certified swimming coach. He organized the Frostbite Camp from 2011-2016.
Eli Holmes (SCKC) coaches for the SCKC and has organized the Frostbite camp since 2017. She rowed crew in college for 4 years, competing in the US Nationals and PAC-12 Championships. In 2015, she took up sprint kayak and has competed at the 2015-19 US Masters Nationals. During winter, she coaches nordic skiing. She is a PSIA Level III nordic ski instructor and the technical director for the Summit Nordic Ski School. She likes to paddle sprint kayak, marathon canoe, outrigger canoe, expedition canoe, and surf ski.
Steve Scoggins (Bellingham) is head coach for the Bellingham Canoe Kayak Sprint Team.
Juraj Osusky (SCKC) began paddling with SCKC on the junior team. He raced on the US Junior National team 1991-1993. In 1997, he was selected for the Senior World Championships team that competed in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia and in 2002 selected for the Pan-American Games team. He served as the SCKC head coach in 1998. He is still actively competing in both sprint kayak and surf ski races.
Evan Truesdale (SDCKT/SCKC) started kayaking in San Diego at age 9. He raced at OHR in 2016 and 2017, in addition to Junior Worlds in 2018 as a 1000m athlete. He started coaching the Junior Racing Team in San Diego, and is continuing to coach in Seattle after becoming a freshman at the University of Washington.
Diane Tam (False Creek) is the head coach for the False Creek Racing Canoe Club in Vancouver BC. While at university, she competed in dragonboat including competing in the Club Crew World Championships in Malaysia. After university, she switched to sprint canoe and kayak and began coaching for False Creek. She has coached at BC Summer Games, Western Canada Summer Games, Nationals, Canada Summer Games, and at Olympic Hopes.
Kenny Kasperbauer (Gig Harbor) races canoe for Gig Harbor Canoe/Kayak. Kenny has competed at international competition on many occasions, earning a silver medal in the C2 200m at OHR. He also competed in the C2 1000m at the Junior World Championships. Kenny is a 200/500m athlete who trains with Gig Harbor in the summer and coaches for Seattle over the school year. He is currently a junior at the University of Washington.
Andreea Ghizila (Cascade) started canoeing in 2015 with Kenmore-Cascade Canoe and Kayak Club. In 2016 she won a bronze medal at OHR and in 2018 won two silver medals and one bronze medal at the Pan American Championships. She also went to Junior World Championships 2017 & 2018 and OHR 2017. In 2019 she coached for Cascade throughout the summer and took the U14 team to Canada for the Pacific Cup Regatta in September. She currently attends UW, coaches for Seattle, and trains on Green Lake and at Cascade.
Kremena Ilcheva (OKC) began paddling at the age of 12 in Bulgaria. She went to the National Sports Academy in Sofia, Bulgaria and has a bachelors degree with a major of Canoe-Kayak and secondary of PE. She has experience coaching both juniors and masters athletes and is currently coaching the masters group at OKC Riversport.
Michele Eray (Newport) is a Beijing 2008 Olympian in sprint kayak. She competed in K-4 and K-2 for South Africa, finishing seventh in the K-4 500 m. She has also competed at the elite level in surf life saving, surfski and marathon kayak racing. She has competed in nine marathon world championships and took the bronze in K2 in 2007. In surf ski, she won the 2013 world championships and was in 2nd in 2015. She is now a high performance surfski and sprint coach and Olympic coach (Paddle California). In 2015, she was the USACK Sprint High Performance Director and in 2016, she coached Maggie Hogan to the Rio Olympics.
Dan Henderson (Cascade) is head coach for the Cascade Canoe and Kayak Racing Team. He was a member of the USA Sprint Canoe/Kayak Team 1982-88 and won bronze medals in canoe at the 1983 and 1987 PanAm Championships. Dan raced and trained in Hungary from 1981-85. He was the SCKC head coach 1989-93, the US National Development Coach 1993-96, and Cascade Canoe & Kayak Racing Team head coach 1997 to present. He was the US World Championship Team Leader in 1995 and 2003, Jr World Championship Team Coach in 1993, OHR Team Leader in 2008, and the Jr Worlds Women's Kayak and OHR Men's Kayak Coach in 2019. In addition to coaching, he teaches ICF/ACA Level 1 & 2 Coach Certification courses and co-authored the ICF Level 1 Coaching Manual, 1st Ed.
Joe Harper (San Diego) is a 1996 Olympian in sprint canoe. He competed in C-1 1000m at Altanta, making it to the semi-finals. He currently coaches canoe for San Diego Canoe and Kayak Club and for the US National team. In 2019, he was the canoe coach for the Olympic Hopes Team in Slovakia.
Alyson Morse (Gig Harbor) started paddling at 12 years old with Gig Harbor. She competed at the Olympic Hopes Regatta, Junior Worlds, and U23 Worlds in kayak. She paddled the first 1.5 years of college in Oklahoma and rowed the last 2.5 years while she earned a bachelor's in Human Performance and helped coach the OKCRS canoe/kayak team. After college, she moved back home and coaches for the Gig Harbor Canoe and Kayak team. In 2019, she was an assistant coach for the US Junior/U23 World Championships team.
Misha Riszkiewicz (RTR) is coach and co-founder of the River Town Racers (Petaluma, CA). He has been coaching adults and youth in surfski and sprint kayak for the past 15 years and is an ICF Level One certified coach. He is also an active masters racer in surfski and sprint K1.
Doug Ritchie (SCKC) coaches for the Seattle Canoe and Kayak Club. He is a 9 time member of the US Wildwater team. He has competed at both the World Championships and Master's World Championships and is twice US National Champion in Wildwater. Doug was team manager for the 2011 and 2013 Jr. National Wildwater team and coached the Sr. US Wildwater Team in 2007 and 2014. In addition to coaching, he is an active masters racer in sprint, surf ski, and marathon canoe.
Nevin Harrison (GHCKRT) started canoeing with SCKC at age 12. In 2017, she won silver in C-1 1000m, gold in 500m and gold in 200m in the 2002 age group at Olympic Hopes Regatta in Racice, Czech Republic. The next year, at the 2018 Olympic Hopes Regatta in Poznan, Poland, she won gold in C-1 500m and 200m in the 2002 age group. In 2019, she moved to the Gig Harbor Canoe and Kayak Racing Team. In 2019, she won the C-1 200m at the Pan Am Games in Peru and won gold in C-1 200m at the World Championships in Hungary.
Margaret Buzard (SCKC) began kayaking with SCKC when she was 10 years old and competed at four Nationals with the team. She began coaching in the development program in 2011 and has been the head coach for the SCKC development program since 2015. In 2019 after finishing her degree at the University of Portland, she also began coaching the SCKC Junior Sprint Team.
E'Lana Ecker (Bellingham) is one of the top masters surf ski paddlers in the PNW. She comes from a PAC 10 collegiate rowing background, and enjoys swimming, cycling, and skate skiing in addition to surf ski paddling. She is currently the development coach with Bellingham Canoe and Sprint Team. She is passionate about technique, both for optimizing the paddle stroke while learning good habits that allow athletes to enjoy this amazing sport for years to come.
Laurence Chin (False Creek) coaches for the False Creek Racing Canoe Club in Vancouver BC and competes with with adult team.
Payton Chiou (GHCKRT) coaches for the Gig Harbor Canoe and Kayak Racing Team. He began paddling as a youth with Gig Harbor, attending many national championships with the team, and returned to the team after university to coach.
Neil Bransfield (SCKC) is a long-time coach in sprint canoe and kayak, track and field, and cross-country skiing. He was a collegiate runner and later became involved in competive marathon canoe. He headed the SCKC marathon canoe team which was very active in the 1990s. In the mid-2010s, he was the SCKC head coach until moving to Bellingham, where he now coaches high school track and field.