Sara, a Madison native, found her passion for rowing while living in Seattle, Washington, where she learned to row in 2011 and earned a seat on the Lake Union Crew nationally competitive women’s team, with whom she rowed for three years. During that time, Sara also led yoga classes for her fellow rowers and served as an assistant coach for adult learn-to-row classes. Since returning to Wisconsin, Sara has continued to row as a member of the Milwaukee and Mendota Rowing Clubs, and is a US Rowing Assistant Referee. She is delighted to be back in Madison and is enthusiastically looking forward to coaching with the Mendota Rowing Club.

Sara can be reached at skrizan@mendotarowingclub.com

Evelyn can be reaches at everoselyn21@gmail.com.

Peter is an incoming Junior attending UW Madison. He is pursuing an undergraduate degree in mechanical engineering, a certificate in computer science, and is planning to obtain his masters in mechanical engineering at the Norwegian Institute of Science and Technology in Trondheim. He walked onto the UW Men’s Rowing Team as a freshman and has been competing on the team ever since. 

Back at home in Alamo, California, Peter spends as much time as he can outdoors. Peter loves to golf, hike, run and bike. His love for cardio is well complemented by his knack to get outside. He spent six years prior to college competing in cross country and track, has completed 2 triathlons, and plans to compete in Ironman Wisconsin next summer. 

Peter loves to cook, travel, and spend quality time with friends. He enjoys spending his summer in Madison and is excited to add coaching with the MRC to his summer itinerary.

I am currently a student at UW-Madison studying biology with intentions to attend Physical Therapy school. I am from Menomonee Falls, WI and grew up playing volleyball and basketball before starting my rowing career. I attended a summer learn to row camp at UW-Madison and fell in love with the sport. I rowed briefly at Milwaukee Rowing Club during my senior year of high school before continuing my academic and athletic career at UW-Madison. I have raced in the first novice 8+ and second varsity 8+ during my time at Wisconsin and am excited to share all that I have learned with the athletes at Mendota Rowing Club! 

Rose started rowing first year of high school in West Michigan and quickly fell in love with the sport. They went on to row D3 at Smith College, where they studied Engineering and Spanish. After graduating in the spring, Rose moved to Madison in August 2022 and immediately joined Mendota Rowing Club. They are excited to work with the Middle Schoolers on building teamwork and camaraderie while strengthening fitness and rowing technique. Outside of rowing, Rose is an energy engineer passionate about climate change; they work in implementing renewable energy for heating and cooling buildings.

Rose can be reached at rsears@mendotarowingclub.com

Taylan learned to row and fell in love with the sport in 2012 during their freshman year at Bucknell University. After a fall semester on the water and winter training, Taylan moved up from the learn to row program to the varsity team. In 2018 Taylan moved to New York City and started rowing with Row New York's masters team. Through RNY, Taylan got to compete (and win a few medals) internationally in the 2018 Gay Games in Paris, as well in regattas throughout the east coast. Taylan's main love is endurance rowing, and they have circumnavigated Manhattan, a 53 km row, and participated in the Vogalonga - a 32 km row through the canals of Venice. In addition to rowing with MRC's masters team, Taylan is also training to compete in the 2025 World's Toughest Row as part of team Oar the Rainbow, rowing 2,800 miles from California to Hawaii. Outside of rowing, Taylan is a PhD student in UW Madison's School of Social Work. 

Taylan can be reached at tstulting@MendotaRowingClub.com.

Rebecca Kite is from Denver, Colorado, and is an alum of the UW Women’s Rowing Team, Class of 2021. She walked-on to the team in Fall 2017 having never rowed before, and went on to compete at the BIG10 and NCCA Championships. She raced in the second varsity eight and first varsity four while on the team, sitting bow or 3 seat. At the end of her 4 years, she received a senior award for her dedication, spirit, and inspiration. 

As an athlete her whole life—of soccer, basketball, field hockey, swimming, and rowing—Rebecca appreciates the way sport cultivates personal and communal harmony through our most innocent and primal of urges, moving our bodies and competing! She is a cheerleader of mental health and fortitude and believes sport can be a conduit to understanding ourselves and others more deeply.

Rebecca is receiving a degree in Journalism from UW-Madison. Her love of the outdoors comes from her years spent as a summer camper and counselor in Colorado and as a little kid exploring the shores of Lake Huron in Ontario with her family. She is so excited to continue her rowing journey with the awesome folks of MRC! 

She can be reached at: rkite@mendotarowingclub.com