Top American rowing coach, Kevin Harris, will be joining Arshay Cooper on his visit to Cape Town at the end of May.
Harris and Cooper will spend time coaching rowers from the UWC and the CCRC/Lawhill Rowing Clubs They will also officially name and christen boats bought with funds donated to the CCRC/Lawhill Rowing Club in 2020.
ROWING CURRICULUM VITAE: KEVIN HARRIS
Kevin Harris
Rowing Coach
Rowing Curriculum Vitae
ROWING EXPERIENCES
2022-2023 US Junior Women’s National Team Selection Camp, Chula Vista, CA
Assistant Coach
- Assisted in Women’s Junior National Team Selection
- Coached primarily Women’s Sweep for CanAmMex Regatta
- USA won all CanAmMex sweep events (8, 4+, 2-’s) by open water over Mexico and Canada
2002-2022 University of Tulsa, Tulsa, OK
Head Coach, Women’s Rowing
- Started with 16 rowers and created a continuously competitive team over 20 years
- Coached Olympians Michelle Sechser ’09 (USA LW 2x, Tokyo) and Jennifer Casson ’17 (CAN LW2x, Tokyo).
- Coached 10 athletes who made either U23 or Senior National Teams for the Argentina, Austria, Australia, Bulgaria, Canada, Italy, and the United States
- Built the Jack Zink Indoor Rowing Center
- Built the Bird Boathouse
- Fundraised approximately $2.5M over 20 years
- Head of the Charles won the 2004 Women’s Club 4+
- Team won the Midwest Collegiate Rowing Championships in 2009 and 2010
- Women’s Henley (UK) won the 2019 Women’s Lwt 2x
- Team finished 4th at C-USA/Big XII/SEC Championships in 2014
- Team finished 2nd at American Athletic Rowing Championships 2015-2019
- Team C-USA and AAC Academic Awards in 2010, 2012, 2016
- Varsity 8 awarded the American Athletic Conference Boat of the Year, 2018
- Team won the University of Tulsa Athletic Department Community Service Award 7 times
- Multiple All-American and Academic All-American Awards from Tulsa Athletes
1999-2002 Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS
Women’s Assistant Coach
- Recruited and managed a team of 75 athletes
- Helped to establish first Big XII Rowing Conference Championship
1999,2000 Oakland, CA and Manhattan, KS
Head Coach, Western Development Camp, Junior Women’s National Team
- 8’s and 4’s defeated the Northwestern Development Camp in Seattle, WA, 1999
- Top Junior 8 finished won silver at USRowing Club National Championships, Syracuse, NY
- Coached future Senior National Team rower Brett Sickler Gorman
1997-1999 Mills College, Oakland, CA,
Women’s Head Coach
- Varsity 4 won gold at the 1998 California State Rowing Championships
- Varsity 4 won silver at the 1998 Western Intercollegiate Rowing Championships
- Varsity 4+ qualified for 1998 NCAA Women’s Rowing Championships finishing 15th
- First African-American head coach at the NCAA Women’s Rowing Championships
1995-1997 Mount Holyoke College, South Hadley, MA
Novice Women’s Coach
- Novice 8 won gold at Seven Sisters Regatta, 1995, 1996
- Novice 8 helped Mount Holyoke to win the 1996 NEWMAC Conference Championship
- Novice 8 won bronze at 1996 Collegiate New England Championships
- Novice 8 qualified for the 1996 Champion Regatta
1994-1996 Junior Women’s Committee, US Rowing
Member
- Voted to implement the CanAmMex Regatta
- Worked to select and oversee appropriate JNT coaches and camp sites
- Represented the Committee at JNT Trials
1993-1995 Potomac Boat Club, Washington DC
Head Coach of Intermediate and Junior Women
- Women’s Light 4+ 3rd at 1994 Head of the Charles
- U19 8 won gold at the 1995 Royal Canadian Henley
- Potomac Boat Club- Harris/Fisher Trophy awarded annually to the winner of the Canadian U19 8 since 1996
- Coached future Olympian Christine Smith (USA LW2-, Bronze, Sydney Games)
1992-1995 Gonzaga College High School
Teacher of History, Rowing Advisor
- Taught the school’s inaugural African-American History Class
- Helped found, fund, and coach the Gonzaga Rowing Team
1991-1995 Yorktown High School Girls Rowing
Head Coach
- Varsity Girls 8 Bronze at 1992 NOVA Championships
- Two YHS athletes row to Junior Women’s 8 bronze at Junior Worlds (Montreal, Canada)
- Varsity Girls 8 Silver at 1994 NOVA Championships, bronze at SRA Nationals
- Lightweight 8 Girls 8 won gold at 1995 NOVA, Stotesbury, and SRA Championships
1991-1993 Capitol Rowing Club, Washington, D.C.
Head Coach
- Helped to stabilize the program using equipment from YHS
- Took the team to its first USRowing Club Nationals, 1993
- Added summer junior rowing to the club.
- Coached the inaugural DC Strokes Rowing Club crew for the premier 1993 Stonewall Regatta
1990-1991 Alexandria City High School (former T.C. Williams HS)
Assistant Coach
- Varsity Boys and Girls Varsity 8’s Assistant Coach, Coach of Boys Senior and Junior 4’s
- Both Crews won 1990 Washington Post’s All-Met High School Crews of the Year
- Girl’s Varsity 8 won gold at 1990 Northern Virginia (NOVA) Championships and the Scholastic Rowing Association National Championships (SRA)
- Girl’s Junior 8 won bronze at Stotesbury Cup and gold at SRA National Championships Boy’s Junior Four won silver at SRA National Championships
EDUCATION
Fall 2023 Texas Southern University Thurgood Marshall School of Law
- Future student accepted for study in the Class of 2026
May 1997 University of Massachusetts-Amherst, Amherst, MA.
- Masters of Education
June 1992 George Washington University, Washington, DC
- Bachelors of Arts, History
SERVICE
2021-Present USRowing Board of Directors, member
- Chairman of the Nominating Committee
- Board Liaison to the DEI Committee
2022-Present USRowing Foundation, member
2020-2022 USRowing Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee, member
2020-2021 Black Coaches and Rowers Association, founding member
2008-2010 Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association, Secretary
1998-2000 Collegiate Rowing Coaches Association, NCAA Division III Representative
1993-1996 USRowing Junior Women’s National Team Committee, member
HONORS
2022 A Most Beautiful Thing Inclusion Fund Boat christening of the Kevin Harris 2x
2020 University of Tulsa Pinnacle Award
2008 University of Tulsa established the Jennifer and Kevin Harris Scholarship Endowment
1996 Royal Canadian Henley’s U19 Women’s 8 award named the Harris/Fischer Trophy
1995 Gonzaga College HS Crew’s “Kevin Harris Award” awarded annually for sportsmanship
1993, 1995 Washington Post’s All Metropolitan Girls Rowing Coach of the Year